"My paintings are an exploration of memory. They offer ‘glimpsed’ or half-remembered figures and faces – re-imagined people standing on the edge of living memory, rescued from a personal archive of the forgotten. 

Ideas originate from random material that comes to hand, an old photograph for example might chime or resonate. I’m drawn to historical images that are slightly out of my time, or from my time but when I was young – that way my response can be more detached. Having chosen an image I then embark on a quest to unlock the essence in a way that is somehow extra-visual. This journey of development and discovery can take anything from 5 days to 5 years until a kind of alchemy takes place and things seem to harmonise of their own accord in a way that can be very rewarding.

I like to paint in an expressionistic way using rags and sponges because the physical marks and textures are a fundamental element of what I am trying to achieve. The challenge for me though is to retain an economy of execution – an effortless effort.

After studying art at Hornsey College of Art and Middlesex University in London I worked as a record sleeve artist – but for the last 25 years I’ve focused entirely on painting, developing a way of working that continues to evolve."

" – David Storey