Mark Demsteader - Ophelia

Published 13 November 2018

With Mark Demsteader's solo show Ophelia now upon us, we were curious to hear the inspiration behind his work. Mark's exhibition Ophelia runs from the 15th - 30th November and we hope that you can make it to the gallery! Please click here to see the full exhibition on our website.

Whenever I am asked by students what inspires me, I usually say the old masters or Victorian artists and such like. When I came around to putting together a new body of work, I thought I would revisit the things that have made me want to paint in the past and look again at what it is about them that I am drawn to.

One of the themes that has over time recurred in my mind has been the subject of Ophelia. Whilst I am drawn to the drama of the character, I wanted to approach it from a more contemporary viewpoint. I was interested in the idea of isolation and creating an undercurrent of unease which seems to me to suggest Ophelia from a different take, rather than from a Victorian sense of drama and sentiment.

- Mark Demsteader October 2018