Paul Chester

The Lake From Here, 2021, oil on panel

About the artist:

Paul Chester studied painting and sculpture in Toronto and Paris, and graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1992. Inspired by the horizons, waterscapes, and rolling hills that surround his studio in Southeastern Ontario, the contemporary landscapes of Paul Chester are in the tradition of Canada’s Impressionists, though tempered by a modern sensibility.

Using oil as his primary medium, Chester builds the surfaces of his wood panels and canvases with many layers of paint and glazes. The physicality in the treatment of these canvases is closely connected to Chester’s sculptural experience and sustained relationship with his natural surroundings. Lines are often scratched and carved into the paint, exposing the ground layers beneath.

Luminosity is the essential element that threads Chester’s works together. His paintings are not individually derived from specific locations but rather, are suggested fragments of recollection; glimpses of memory. Paul Chester has had 37 solo exhibitions and over 45 group shows across Canada, the United States and London, England, and is currently represented by 10 galleries.

“The subjects of my oil paintings are restful places and retreats found in the natural landscape – country fields, flowers, forests, horizons, clouds and waterscapes. These impressions are painted from memory and the experience of that moment – they are my visual diaries; peaceful mementos celebrating beauty.” – Paul Chester