Mitch Griffiths Paradise Lost

Through his paintings Griffiths invites the viewer into his own reality, whilst remaining grounded to a diverse collection of specific cultural reference points, from seventeenth-century Dutch painting to twenty-first century global news. Such references give clues to the subjects approached by the artist in each painting, though the viewer is encouraged to decipher their own interpretations of the artwork. Paradise Lost shows a young, flame-haired woman clutching to the metallic folds of an emergency blanket wrapped around her, meeting the viewer's gaze with an apparent sense of defiance. She is framed by a dramatic backdrop of natural scenery, evoking the receding landscapes of certain Old Master paintings. The dark, ominous clouds appear to be breaking, yielding to the blue sky and sun underneath. Rather uniquely among Griffiths works, Paradise Lost is a standalone painting, falling between different series and touching upon the overarching themes of the artist's work. Griffiths explains: 'When I painted this, I was moving on from one body of work to the next. This was kind of a creative bridge between the two and has more of an ethereal quality than most of my work. Sometimes there is no explanation, no real concept, you just paint to create something.'