Artist Biography
Paul Carter Thompson.
“IMAGINE STANDING ON THE SURFACE OF AN ATOM WITH A MAGIFYING GLASS IN YOUR HAND OR FOR THAT MATTER A TELESCOPE”.
(Frederick. W. Clark.)
This statement underpins the ideology that inspires Paul’s’ art. It also provokes his interest in the natural sciences.
“We exist as a brief moment in the history of time. We are the product of a series of cataclysmic cosmic action-reactions that have been occurring ever since the first moment of the Big Bang. When two or more irresistible forces come together and merge, they become something different. This is the process of evolution at work and is the essence of creativity.”
ARTIST’S BIO:
Paul was born in 1958 in Ipswich and spent his early years growing up in North London. His father was an American airman stationed in the UK during the 1950s His mother was a colourful character, from Barnsley in South Yorkshire. He is the second eldest of five brothers. At the age of four, Paul had a serious accident in which he fell and hit his head, suffering a blood clot on the brain. This left him with a complex disability.
At fourteen, Paul received his first camera, which introduced him to the power of photography, optics, and other visual aids that allowed him to explore images beyond the range of human vision. Around this time, he moved to Thamesmead in South London, where he joined the Thamesmead Art Club and discovered the dynamism of painting.
Paul knew he wanted to be a professional artist from the age of twelve. It was then that he was introduced to the professional art world by his friend and mentor, Felix Aprahamian, a classical musician and music critic. In 1977, Felix introduced Paul to Frederick W. Clark, the brother of Arthur C. Clark. When Paul asked Frederick where Arthur got his inspiration from, he uttered the statement that would change Paul’s outlook on life forever: “Imagine standing on the surface of an atom with a magnifying glass in your hand, or for that matter, a telescope.” This profound statement shifted Paul’s perspective and deepened his connection to the world of art and science.
In the late 1970s through 1989, Paul owned and ran a small lithographic printing business in South London, first working for an employer and later running the business himself. He continued this work for twelve years.
At the age of thirty-one, Paul moved to County Durham. After many years in the graphics industry, he was forced to retire due to health reasons. Lacking formal qualifications, he decided to enrol in a graphic arts course at a local college, where he was introduced to digital media. He developed his skills in Photoshop, a tool he has been using for over thirty years. Paul then pursued a HND in photography and later graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Arts.
Paul is a multidisciplinary artist, often working across a range of mediums including painting, photography, and digital manipulation. His interests are broad, with a particular focus on physics, especially particle physics. Through his work, he seeks to express and explore the unseen universe and how these scientific concepts interact with everyday life.
His latest work is a series of paintings that explore how the incalculable marks, colours, and forms that come together to create a unified whole. His approach is experimental: he always begins with a concept, but allows the work to evolve as he experiments and manipulates it along the way.