Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, after Arvo Part (detail) oil and sparkly bits on canvas, 91x61cm (36x24")
CHRIS HOLLEY: Statement
Coming from a dance/choreographic background and with music in her DNA, Chris is an abstract/figurative painter working mainly from memory and imagination. Her rhythmical and expressive paintings are underpinned by strong drawing skills and sure sense of line and much of her visual art resides where the arts intersect. No surprise then, that she studied Diaghilev's Ballets Russes' astonishing impact across all the arts, her writings on this absorbing subject now residing in the National Library of Art in London's Victoria and Albert Museum and with major arts bodies here and overseas. She exhibits regularly in London and south England, her art also adorning walls in collections in the USA and Spain.
Working mainly in acrylic and oil plus household emulsion, Chris creates small to large scale paintings, often bypassing brushes in favour of sponges, cloths, sticks and her hands, plus studio artifacts to make the more unexpected mark. Disliking the confines of a set-size canvas, she cuts canvas from a roll, primes it in sections and then paints on it unstretched - this in good company with Jackson Pollock. Only later will she crop the image to exact size and selected area to commit to stretcher bars and the finished product. The constant movement of painting from easel to floor - and then back again - creates wide ranging and interesting marks.
Following a leading role to feature in ambitious multi-disciplinary project Feeling the Beat at South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, she continues to actively seek and welcome opportunities and involvement that fuse the arts. Her most recent music/art involvement was as visual artist in residence at renowned Bangor Music Festival in February 2025 where, together with a solo exhibition of twenty-eight abstract music paintings Music the Muse, her involvement also featured much collaboration with musicians and composers and her live in-the-moment painting of music premieres as it was performed,
Coming from a dance/choreographic background and with music in her DNA, Chris is an abstract/figurative painter working mainly from memory and imagination. Her rhythmical and expressive paintings are underpinned by strong drawing skills and sure sense of line and much of her visual art resides where the arts intersect. No surprise then, that she studied Diaghilev's Ballets Russes' astonishing impact across all the arts, her writings on this absorbing subject now residing in the National Library of Art in London's Victoria and Albert Museum and with major arts bodies here and overseas. She exhibits regularly in London and south England, her art also adorning walls in collections in the USA and Spain.
Working mainly in acrylic and oil plus household emulsion, Chris creates small to large scale paintings, often bypassing brushes in favour of sponges, cloths, sticks and her hands, plus studio artifacts to make the more unexpected mark. Disliking the confines of a set-size canvas, she cuts canvas from a roll, primes it in sections and then paints on it unstretched - this in good company with Jackson Pollock. Only later will she crop the image to exact size and selected area to commit to stretcher bars and the finished product. The constant movement of painting from easel to floor - and then back again - creates wide ranging and interesting marks.
Following a leading role to feature in ambitious multi-disciplinary project Feeling the Beat at South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, she continues to actively seek and welcome opportunities and involvement that fuse the arts. Her most recent music/art involvement was as visual artist in residence at renowned Bangor Music Festival in February 2025 where, together with a solo exhibition of twenty-eight abstract music paintings Music the Muse, her involvement also featured much collaboration with musicians and composers and her live in-the-moment painting of music premieres as it was performed,