Alexis Soul-Gray's paintings at Bodley & Workman in Bruton use masking, drips, and spray techniques on canvases up to ten feet tall. The works layer oil and mixed media into abstract compositions with emerging figurative forms, creating a somber mood throughout the show.
Right then, I'm at Bodley and Workman in Bruton. It looks like a really interesting show, so I'm going to start here. Really interesting surface here. I really like the way the, the paint is being applied. You can see these various different techniques. Some areas have been masked, other areas are using the wet paint obviously dripped across the canvas. And then she's continued the forms here. Very nice. Great big painting here. How big is it? Must be about 10-foot long, maybe. Again, very painterly combination of just drawing straight onto the canvas. It's like a bit of spray paint. Scratching off. Yeah, just having fun really. Looks like she's been using, uh, source material and then playing with it. Another one here. I don't get the feeling they're the happiest paintings. Not that the painting has to be happy, of course, but Yeah, personally I prefer to live with something a little bit more uplifting. Each to their own. Couple little ones here. These look almost abstract. No, there is a face actually. There's a face. I imagine these are all oil, probably mixed media on canvas. So yeah, the figure does keep emerging. Now I like this one. This is quite a large— probably a 10-footer. I like these strong contrasts in this one. This figure really stands out, kind of maquette. A lot of layering going on here, but you can see very improvised. Obviously here she's turned the canvas vertically. In fact, that form there could actually be vertical. And then this little blue figure here. I do like this way of playing with paint. It's just a real delight in paint, which I remember using in my earlier figurative works. And then there's one hidden behind here, so let's go and have a look. Oh, there's two. Bruegel comes to mind in this one. Interesting. So now we're going upstairs. Such a great space. So here's the gallery. These look like two watercolors. Rather like that one. Oh, this is another artist who they've certainly For— I like that. Looks like they made it an old church anchor or something.
