Colouring a State of Mind: A Conversation with Sean Stott

Bradford is a world away, or at least half a world, from the heat, bright sunlight and the subsequent array of glowing colours of the Australian Bush. Sean Stott, a Bradford based artist, brings these luminous, vibrant colours back overseas with absolute vigour and energy. He builds up layer upon layer of acrylic paint on a huge scale, sometimes creating a pattern out of the monotonous strokes, sometimes simply developing a mesh of different colours, which surprisingly sit together in absolute harmony.

Since his first encounter with aboriginal art in a London gallery, Stott has been intrigued by their indigenous methods and concepts, or perhaps, more specifically, how their practical methods are intrinsically linked to their thoughts, feelings and ideas. At first glance Stott admits it was the simplicity that got him ‘hooked.’

In a London that was swarmed by the highly conceptual work of the YBA’s, the pattern-orientated work of the aborigines must have been refreshing; free of pretence and free of thought. What I mean by ‘free of thought’ is that their work, perhaps, freed Stott of a certain way of thinking, and, as it did, introduced him to a new way of painting. Thoughts, ideas and dreams are at the core of their culture and of their artwork.



After a stint in Adelaide, Australia, Stott really began to understand Aboriginal ideas and concepts, and it was by no means less conceptual than some of the contemporary art being produced in England. It was intrinsically linked to their thoughts and beliefs as a culture, to their way of living. In a sense it was more direct. Painting for the aborigines is perhaps like a language; it is a specially formulated set of symbols that provoke a thought, a feeling or an idea when viewed.


Stott, however, did not simply want to copy the visual language of the aborigines but instead take their techniques and apply them to his own individual and cultural language. The sheer scale of Stott’s work provokes a sense of freedom and certain exploration of thought itself, as he states, “A small canvas means you can limit your ideas.”

Mixing day-glow with rich, earthy colours, and combining a certain non-spiritual approach with the spiritual methods of the aborigines, Stott cleverly juxtaposes the modern with the traditional and brings together two opposite sides of the world.

Stott’s work is currently on exhibition at ‘The Cheese and Chutney’ in Soltaire, Bradford. The brilliant contrast of these enormous, pulsating pieces of work is prominent as it is exhibited in such a traditionally English place, in the heart of the West Yorkshire countryside. There is also word of an upcoming exhibition in the Steel City itself. Watch this space.

By Alex Johnson