The Man

Normansell was born in 1978 in Birmingham, United Kingdom, into a working class family. He spent most of his schooldays paying little attention to the lessons and more time doodling. It was at this stage that he began experimenting with circles and dots, which became prominent features in his later work.

His art teacher Mrs. Kimble noticed his individual creative talent and quickly took him under her wing. His keen interest in music was beginning to influence his work, and led to a prolonged phase of 'visual sound' imagery.

"The foundation of my work originates from the relationship between art and music. I wanted to try and create a link between colour, shape and sound. My abstract paintings are based on colour studies exploring how colours can stimulate feelings, emotions within a person, the different meanings each colour has, and it's power to evoke a certain response from the viewer."

After completing his 1st Class Honours degree at the Birmingham Institute of Fine Art, Normansell exhibited his work. His first post-graduate collection was immediately sold out even though the prices were extraordinarily high (£1200.00) for such a little known artist. A gallery owner spotted his talent and instantly signed him up.

A major step in Paul's artistic evolution was the iconic portrait work, which entered the world of high fashion through on-trend images of ultimate desirability and unattainable perfection. High profile fashion assignments have included a range of portraits of supermodels Kate Moss and Agyness Deyn.

The work caught the attention of major fashion brands after appearing in ultra-cool style journals.

In 2008, Normansell was personally approached by Brandon Flowers, frontman of US rock band The Killers. A fan of Paul's work, Flowers commissioned him to create the cover artwork for their third album 'Day & Age', which is now multi-platinum, selling over 3 million copies to date. Rolling Stone Magazine championed the artwork voting it as 'the best album cover of the year.'

Following a string of sell out shows and media attention Paul has become one of the most sought after contemporary artists, receiving international acclaim and exhibiting as far afield as Japan, the United States and Australia.

TECHNIQUE

The foundation of my work originates from the relationship between art and music."

From experimenting with colour Normansell began to create the illusion of movement, stimulating the eye into seeing things which may or may not be there - utilising our inclination to see patterns in randomness like looking for shapes in clouds. The more one studies the image the more one finds.

"My abstract paintings are based on colour studies exploring how it can stimulate feelings, emotions within a person, the different meanings each colour has, and its power to evoke a certain response from the viewer."

First producing abstract works from patterns of dots and cirlces, the natural progression of his style led him to incorporate images within them. As he experimented more with imagery, Paul moved from creating subtle shapes and hidden images within patterns to full portraits made up of fragments of colour, similar to in execution to large scale pointillist paintings.

In order to implement greater detail and tonal variation into his work, Paul's workload took a dramatic hit. The time required to execute a full painting increased from days to weeks, to the point where hundreds of hours were needed to paint a full image made up of individual dots.

"To paint each dot individually takes as long as it takes - they're all different in size, shape and colour, and all applied freehand using a fine brush. There's no shortcut for that unfortunately."

GLOSS

"I wanted to paint famous iconic figures known for their beauty. To achieve a more synthetic, polished feel to the media-friendly portraits, I moved away from the natural organic look of acrylic and canvas, to high gloss enamel paint on sheet aluminium. It gave me the flawless reflective quality the portraits needed, as if they were literally in a glossy magazine."

It was this move that brought the arresting visual impact that Paul's work now has.

The combination of paint and background heightened the dynamic visual aspect of his work through the optical effect and overwhelming impact. As one looks at an image directly, depending on how the light falls, the variety and definition of colour and tone is lost and the portrait almost becomes a silhouette. It is only when viewed off-centre that the image comes alive and the portrait appears.

GRAVITY

The great drawback with the technique, one which is a constant detriment to Paul's health, lies with simple physics - the paintings have to be produced horizontally. In order for the paint to stay still long enough to dry where it should, Paul's aluminium 'canvas' cannot be positioned upright on a traditional easel, as gravity causes the paint to sag and run.

"I have tried several devices over the years to allow me to paint horizontally - from laying on a plank supported on 2 chairs, to a hammock suspended above the floor. None of them have been perfect, and none have permanently removed my need for weekly sessions at the osteopath. My back is messed up, it hurts pretty much all of the time - I suppose it's 'suffering for my art' in true form."

FASHION

Normansell's imagery evolved from dot portraits into a new style as he became interested in a broader scope of fashion images. He began to focus on certain areas of the figure, and by exploring the optical aspect of the portrait, the focus was once again on colour.

"The images I use are based on the fashion world's portrayal of perfection - flawless images of women, completely unrealistic and synthetic, yet ultimately desirable."

With a distinct 'pop art' influence, Normansell's figurative style combines intense saturated colour and flat, graphic execution. By removing almost all suggestion of shade and tone, the images become less connected with the real world, and allude to the 'unrealistic' nature of fashion media imagery.

"Aiming for this look allows me to create an unusual parallel, and because of the plastic-like finish of gloss and the meticulous execution, the paintings are almost doll-like in appearance. Just as the media manufacture their airbrushed images, all flaws are discarded, the skin and hair are impossibly perfect."