Daniel

Butterworth

1. Welcome Daniel to The Influx Gallery family. Tell us a little bit about yourself and where you are from?

I am from a small town of Kyneton Victoria in Australia about one hour from Melbourne

2. Were your family supportive of you deciding to become an artist?

My family are very supportive of my creative journey. My father is a sculptor and my younger brother also creates. A history of artists in the family.

3. Was there anything specific that you can remember that made you want to become an artist?

I recall when I was around 8 years of age visiting the gallery and seeing one of Rembrandt’s selfportraits and from that moment on I felt the need to draw and paint

4. Did your schooling or work affect your creative development in any way?

I finished high to become a sign writer thinking this would fulfill my love of paint, it did not so then went on to unprotected complete a bachelor of fine art

5. Where do you get your inspiration and influences from?

Now my inspiration comes from people and their stories . Some of my influences are lucian Freud tia Shan schirenberg Fischel

6. Do you have a favourite painting technique?

I love painting wet into wet

7. We are very honoured to represent an artist displaying such creative originality?

Does your creative process involve conscious or unconscious imaginings, or a mixture of both?

I create reacting to passion and emotions. My work is created in one moment while the emotion is there. I never go back to a work because the feeling or emotional connection will be different

8. What was your most enjoyable artwork to create/construct?

Every new work I enjoy. Although the series am most proud of is the survivor series. This was 36 portraits of people who were abused that made up one art work. The feedback I received from this saying it helped people move on was humbling

9. Your use of self portraiture in your painting is fantastic. What emotions do you want to convey through your work?

I hope to connect with all emotions.

10. We love your mastery within a variety of different genres, from still life, landscapes and portraiture. Which of these genres do you enjoy working in the most? I

keep coming back to the figure. I feel it is the most challenging reason being that we see people all the time and if something is wrong in a figurative painting you don’t have to be an artist to see it, if a branch in a tree is painted in the wrong spot it doesn’t matter but if an eye is is a fraction to the left everyone can see something is wrong. I enjoy this challenge. As well as the capturing flesh with paint having it appear that blood is in the paint under skin, this is what I strive for.

11. Do you feel a part of, or slightly separate from the Australian art scene?

I don’t really look too much into this. Australian art scene is very scattered