BIO

My grandfather, Ken Sturdy, was an artist and was the president of the Alberta College of Art in the late 1970s and early 80s, so our family was always surrounded by artists and creative types. I learned a lot from him and was encouraged to draw at a young age.

I’d always thought I would attend the art college but the year I planned to apply I was offered a job as a storyboard artist on a Disney TV show. My grandfather told me a job like that is a dream for many art college graduates and I should take it. I took his advice and it kicked off a twenty year career in film and television drawing storyboards, designing concept images and visual effects, directing, editing, even script writing and composing music.

I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with industry greats on some wonderful projects, like drawing concept designs for the opening title sequences for James Bond movies, or directing an award winning short with Keira Knightley. I've received Emmy honours from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for visual effects designs.

I love the collaborative process of working in the film industry, but what was missing for me was an intimate connection with the audience. I decided to embark on a more direct collaborative process between myself and the viewer with the art that I make. Where I once worked behind the scenes with a crew, I now work on my own in a studio. Where I mainly worked digitally before, I now use the most basic storytelling tools: charcoal, paper, paint and canvas, to connect in the most authentic way that I can. By creating dramatic compositions as if they were scenes from a film in my head, my aim is to not tell a story as much as stimulate one in the viewer’s mind. This encourages them to project their own personal story onto my art, rather than having it projected onto them from a screen.

I play a lot with light and shadow in my compositions. Much of the scene remains hidden, inviting the viewer to look for answers in the shadows. The subjects themselves are often turned away from the viewer, they exist in their own world, unaware of our scrutiny. I tend to avoid using colour because I feel there is a timeless quality to black and white and it leaves even more up to the imagination. Storytelling is an underlying subject matter in my work.

People have compared my work to Gustave Doré, Chris Van Allsburg, and Kara Walker. All of whose work I love, but I’m more influenced by filmmakers like Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock or Fritz Lang than I am by fine artists. My approach takes patience. There’s a meditative quality in the process which always reminds me of Tibetan sand painting. I believe that the viewer considers this time and effort.

I’ve heard from a lot of people, after they view my work, who tell me the stories that the images inspire. A musician sent me music she wrote for my art and then she composed the music for my London exhibition opening. A filmmaker in LA sent me a screenplay he had written which was inspired by one of my charcoal pieces. This is the connection I’ve been yearning for. I think my grandfather would be proud.