Artist Focus: Iain Faulkner

Iain Faulkner’s contemplative and introspective oil paintings seemingly reduce the painted lone subject’s field of vision to the divine, serene, and inviolable allure of nature.

Growing up in Scotland and graduating from the Glasgow School of Art in 1996 with a BA in Fine Art, Faulkner was exposed to the natural world from a young age. Witnessing Scotland's beautiful rolling hills, evergreen woodlands, and towering mountains, Faulkner was enveloped in the universal visual language of nature. In his earlier works, a nomadic lifestyle was placed upon his subject as the figure existed in different contexts. In these works, the subject, however, is still attached to the mores of human society. Faulkner’s early demonstrations of his figuration reveal that a part of him, such that of his subject, is attached to the societal realm, actively looking out into the world as if he desires something greater than himself. 

In his recent works (Loch Etive, Last Night, 2024, Lago di Braies Morning, 2024), Faulkner appeals to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s appreciation of nature, painting scenes in which the subject can neither feel disgrace nor calamity. It is only the man and the infinity of nature that now exists in his paintings. The serene water emanates a source of divinity, where its stillness and calm creates an immortal beauty; the man in the painting, standing tall and looking outward, exists not by himself, isolated and alone; yet, remaining autonomous and powerful while confronting the sublime image of nature’s overwhelming power.

Iain Faulkner has had numerous solo shows in the UK, USA, France, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy. His work appears in many private and corporate collections; in 2010, he was commissioned to paint the European Ryder Cup Team member portraits.