Mark Bletcher’s practice is informed by an enquiry into the functions of the mind and of memory. In his paintings through both contextual and physical ‘framing’ he explores how perception can be framed by experience and fiction. His work is fueled by my interest Magical Realism and authors such as Murakami and Kafka whose novels, like his paintings, explore the intersections of fiction with embodied experience.

Since graduating Newcastle University in 2019 Bletcher shows his work regularly. He has been awarded the Gwen May Recent Graduate Award from The Royal Society for Painter-Printmakers and was shortlisted for the Woon Foundation prize, FBA Futures and the Contemporary Young Artist Award. He is the co-founder of Minutes Exchange and works from his studio in Newcastle. 

‘Recently I have been trying to concentrate on looking, and painting, what I see at my desk. I have to admit it’s quite hard and my mind has been prone to wander, but here I depicted one of it’s many machinations: A candlestick foo dog with a bisected rider. I wonder how it got here. I’ve painted many other vessels (if you can call a candle stick a vessel?) and if they keep appearing will paint many more.’