Christopher Thompson was born in Grimsby in 1969 and trained at The Royal Academy Schools. Thompson’s paintings originate as much from the artists own ideas and thoughts as they are drawn from glimpses of his own life and the world around him. Working from finely observed portrait studies, Thompson manipulates these ‘truths’ with imagined memories appropriated from elsewhere, weaving an enigmatic fiction that takes on a new reality on canvas. Captured in his delicate painterly technique and an often subdued palette, Thompson’s compositions portray the human drama inherent in gestures, glances and emotions. In combining his imagined sources with observational accuracy, his work traverses the divide between the real and the fictitious – one step removed from reality, yet entirely authentic. His work expresses a fascination with togetherness and individuality, with what is spoken and unspoken. Sometimes his individuals appear lonely and detached - lost in their own solipsistic thoughts - in others his figures are relational and interacting, expressive and aware of one another. In each composition, Thompson draws the viewer into the world he has created; our dialogue with his characters is as much a part of the unfolding story as the canvas itself.
