Theo Crutchley-Mack*
Theo Crutchley-Mack | Mixed Media | Cornwall
Theo Crutchley-Mack is a contemporary British artist whose work appears in private and public collections throughout the UK
As a teenager Theo designed a 50 pence coin that was minted into national circulation with royal approval, sparking a clear artistic direction from a young age.
Since graduating from Falmouth University with a sell-out degree show, he has continued to exhibit successfully throughout Wales and Cornwall for 5 years.
In 2018 Theo was invited to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia where he painted and documented the ruined whaling stations to help fundraise for the South Georgia Heritage Trust, who work to restore the damaged habitats of native wildlife. The ramshackled quality of these ruins had a significant effect on his work and it's progression.
Theo strives to record the obscure landscape, often abandoned and remote. He spends many hours outside drawing in sketchbooks that later become reference for larger studies. His studio paintings start out as wooden panels which are built up with multiple layers of splintered wood. This process forms the foundation for a sculptural approach to painting in which the underlying textures are often more prominent than the paint itself.