Alex Cave
  • 2020-25
  • 17-19
  • 14-16
  • 1984-2025
  • About
  • Contact
  • 2020-25
  • 17-19
  • 14-16
  • 1984-2025
  • About
  • Contact
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Structure, balance and lighting are three key areas in my work. The structure part was the first area I became interested in as when I first began painting I kept noticing how certain subjects, like leaves on trees for example, appeared flat and lacking in structure and depth. So my focus became how to make objects appear more three dimensional and eventually I developed a geometric style where each item appeared as cube-like structures and angled planes.

Constantly modifying and updating this theme, every so often I made breakthroughs with a particular aspect. A notable one (2005-2008) was opening up or 'unfolding' these geometric shapes which resulted in a lighter and more paper like aesthetic and a new interest in balancing the compositions too. Then a maths theory (combinatorics) in a science journal helped me develop this balance theme further as I began rethinking about the entire layout in a painting, mixing figurative and landscape elements together (2010- 2011) so that a person would be constructed from street objects for example. Lighting became a more important feature too especially when painting things like traffic signals, figuring out how they would light up their nearby surroundings with these new rearranged compositions. My 3d animation experience also provided a good knowledge base for lighting too, and I aimed at treating each painting as if it were a 3d cg environment. Another development was 'cutout' shapes(2015-). This not only improved the balance in the image, but also helped with the depth too as the cutout sections revealed the shapes/structures behind. Spin off ideas from this cutout theme happened too like 'paired' or 'mirrored' shapes which fed back into the maths interest again and so on. 
 
In terms of inspiration, firstly there are numerous artists in different galleries around the world and online whose work I study, enjoy and learn from. Then there are themes such as shop awnings or cafe/hotel/restaurant/pub umbrellas that often appear in my early work as I love their simple 3d canopy quality in the spaces they occupy. Trees are another big influence too, not just with their designs but also the amazing array of colour,texture, leaf and flower translucent properties and so on especially Spring blossom + Autumn leaves. Then there's the digital art world and after 10+ years experience creating cg work, I still avidly follow all the developments happening at the moment like Unreal Engine 5.5 'Lumen',  'Nanite' + 'Megalights' and Nvidia 'RTX mega geometry', all of which I find fascinating + keep learning from. Lego products are another passion especially their Ninjago range as is a lot of Japanese culture with Origami, Kirigami, Chiyogami, Transformers and Gunpla robots. My residency with Andrew James Art in Shanghai was another massive inspiration - incredible buildings,lights + hazy atmospheres made a big impact. Finally there's the random day to day stuff such as food packaging design in supermarkets or brightly coloured plastic barriers on a construction site for example that keep providing ideas for future work.

​

​b. 1970 London     
Lives and works in London

Education
1993-1995 MA Animation,Royal College of Art
1990-1993 BA Illustration,University of Brighton
1988-1990 UCA Epsom


Residencies 
2010 Andrew James, Shanghai, China

Animation 
1995-2008 CBBC, Channel 5,  PS1/PS2/Xbox,   Architectural visualisation + tv/cinema ads

Visiting Artist/Lecturer
1996-1997 University of Brighton

Awards
1995 - 2000  London,Stuttgart,Edinburgh film
​festivals, MTV, Canal+ collections
1995 1st prize, 1 minute Animation, RCA, London
1994 Philips Research sponsorship/RCA project
Selected Exhibitions
2016 Small is Beautiful,Flowers,London
2015 Small is Beautiful,Flowers,London
2014 Winter Exhibition,Medici,London
2014 Summer Exhibition,Medici,London
2014 Century Club,London
2014 Richard Hagen,Worcestershire
2014 Spring Exhibition,Medici,London
2013 Small is Beautiful XXXI,Flowers,London
2013 Winter Exhibition,Medici,London
2013 Richard Hagen,Worcestershire
2012 Small is Beautiful XXX,Flowers,London
2012 Art For All,Medici,London
​2012 Threadneedle ,Mall Galleries,London

2012 Outsiders' Celebration of Sport, Bermondsey Project,London
2012 Spring show,Islington Arts Factory,London
​
2012 Creative Islington,London
2011 Small is Beautiful XXIX,Flowers,London

2011 Cork Street Open Exhibition,London


2011 Summer Exhibition,Medici,London
2011 Spring Exhibition,Medici,London

2011 Debut, Medici, Cork Street, London 
2010 Images of London,Foundry Gallery,London
2010 Urban Code,Vyner Street,London
2010 Base Gallery,Maynard Leigh Associates,London
2010 Artist in residence,Andrew James,Shanghai
2010 Small is Beautiful XXVIII, Flowers,London   ​
2010 Summer Exhibition,Medici,London 
2010 Irresistible Force,Brick Lane Gallery,London
2009 Small is Beautiful XXVII,Flowers,London
2008 National Open, Chichester   
2007 Enid Lawson,London
2006 Park Lane Fine Art,Surrey
2006 Queen Street Gallery,Hampshire