Introduction
When one first discovers the works of Dion Salvador Lloyd we are thrown into a layered and complex world of exploration,the exploration of the artist himself,who draws upon nature,light,beauty and decay for inspiration. Working in oils,mark making and texture are as essential to Lloyd's work as is the tone and palette chosen. Having a deep connecetion and a fascination with the natural world Lloyd paints contemporary landscape and abstract paintings. He is self-taught.
Statement
'We shall not cease from exploration.
And at the end of all our exploring.
Will be to arrive where we first began.
And to know the place for the first time.'
TS Eliot 'The Waste Land'
When one first discovers the works of Dion Salvador Lloyd we are thrown into a layered and complex world of exploration; The exploration of the artist himself, who draws upon nature, light, beauty and decay for inspiration. The exploration of our own imagination as we enter these Turner-esque abstract worlds and try to find a foothold within them, the only available guide being our own personal history and experience.
Lloyd pushes out his internal dramas and feelings onto the canvas, not in a way that demands to be heard, but rather, in a quiet, modest almost shy way. Through his work he seeks to understand himself and his world, each canvas very like a page in a diary, where his most intimate feelings are registered and recorded. He then invites us, the audience, to witness these places that he has been and seen, never demanding understanding, simply to share and to see what we find of ourselves within them.
From his early landscapes to his most recent abstract works, this invitation stands open. Each canvas a unique world, at once familiar and yet also disturbingly foreign, we cannot resist his desire that we enter, to walk, or even fly around these vistas of his imagination and within which we find the limits of our own.
Since failing O'Level Art at school Lloyd has held a grim determination to master the medium of paint, to bend it to his will, to push it beyond his own or anyone else's expectations, to see what paint can become when worked, pushed and chiselled. The textures on the surface are as important as the colours and lines below. It is not just the image created, but also its depth, shape and contour, a visceral finish that makes you want to reach out and touch, as well as to look.
It is for these reasons that we should not simply rely on printed or online reproductions of Lloyd's work in order to fully understand and appreciate their power: Find an exhibition, visit his open studio, these works demand and need to be seen in their naked flesh in order to fully understand how their uniquely delicate touch can move you.
Petra Creffield 2011