High Artist Spotlight: H.G. Fields
I’m H.G. Fields, a child of the late 80s . Though H.G isn’t actually my given name. I adopted it as my pseudonym, the H.G. stands for High Guy – which I’d be occasionally referred for somewhat obvious reasons during my final year of art school in London.
Having been brought up in Barbados I moved to the UK in 2007 to study art, where I spent a year at Wimbledon on a Fine Arts Foundation course then going on to continue my studies at Central Saint Martins; achieving a BA in Fine Arts.
The driving force behind the creation of my artwork is quite often a sum of raw emotions, which stem from incidents born of social injustice, inequality, and ignorance; painting and illustration are my forms of expression.
One aspect of my work in particular which has become the crux of my artistic practice, which attempts to deconstruct the global ‘War on Drugs,’ particularly as it pertains to cannabis and the law – a subject which peaked my interest during the final year at art school. It also served as the catalyst for my thesis, and carried through to my practice today, highlighting the negative impact it has on society whereby it creates a profound disparity across racial groups.
Consequently, the themes of which my work usually fall under: equal rights and justice, identity and the struggle for understanding thus acceptance of cannabis and its associated cultural norms and values. It was in the backdrop of the stifling social tension that the Golliwog was born, the ethos of which has become a reoccurring theme in my work relating to identity and cannabis use, since its debut in one of my final pieces at art college.
This, in turn, became the catalyst for my series of paintings, ‘The Toy Box; Identity Retrospective,’ which explores propaganda and inequality. That being said, at an early age I was inspired by illustrations in the childrens’ books I owned growing up; classics such as Alice in Wonderland, and Dr. Suess. Additionally, I had unknowingly grown an appreciation for the likes of Dali, and the language of surrealism, through my adoration of Looney Tunes cartoons.
Throughout my time at University I developed a preference for digital painting using a Wacom tablet and pen, photoshop and my pc. My preference for digital work is rooted in the ease in which I can alter and manipulate colour, contrast and textures. Although traditionally a fine artist, my work over the past few years has been rather illustrative and graphic.