Statement

Maggie Royle
I am a painter based in Bristol UK.

Working in a spirit of playful improvisation I make paintings on paper, cardboard and canvas. My work veers between abstraction and figuration. The paintings feature coincidental, accidental and unexpected connections which are informed by an eclectic range of sources, including memory, imagination, music, travel, things observed, thoughts and events.

The pace of the work interests me; working on several paintings at once, the work develops its own rhythm – some are worked over many months or even years, others surprise me with the suddenness of their completion.

At times the paintings are reminiscent of something which is just out of reach, and there’s an awkwardness  which might be to do with the juxtaposition of colour or the composition or the feelings of uncertainty which permeate the making of the work. Ultimately I continue to paint because the act of painting continues to challenge, delight, surprise, frustrate and excite me.

My work has been exhibited widely; nationally and internationally and is in public and private collections.