Paul Cadden is a talented Scottish hyperrealist painter and artist who was born in 1964 in Glasgow. Paul's incredible portraits with photographic detail are actually pencil drawing. He captures everyday images on camera before converting them into stunning black and white drawings. Cadden recieved his BFA in Animation and Illustration from James Watt College in 2003. His work is inspired by a fascination with the media, the way it manipulates audiences by favoring arguments in line with its own interests, and suppresses other points of view or simply diverts attention from them, resulting in to alienation and a prevailing cynicism among perceptive viewers. In addition to hyperrealism, Paul Cadden has worked as a 3D illustrator.
At the heart of my work is the mystery of identity - our place in the landscape and how we can connect to one another. The drawings I create invites the viewer to observe the world in which we inhabit and in doing so, question whether we take the time to appreciate what we see around us. My hopes through my art are to transport the viewer into another space which is always there but on reflection, is often missed. Through an accurate representation of 'reality' I aspire to give the viewer a new emotional perspective in which we can appreciate an affinity for everyday situations as we deal exclusively with how people appear, when in reality people are more than what we see.
Although the drawings and paintings I make are based upon photographs, videos, stills, etc., the idea is to go beyond the photograph. The photo is used to create a subtler and much more complex focus on the subject depicted - the virtual image becomes the living image, an intensification of the normal. These objects and scenes in my drawings are meticulously detailed to create the illusion of a new reality not seen in in the original photo. The Hyperrealist style focuses much more on its emphasis on detail and the subjects depicted. Hyperreal paintings and sculptures are not strict interpretations of photographs, nor are they literal illustrations of a particular scene or subject. Instead, they utilise additional, often subtle, pictorial elements to create the illusion of a reality which in fact either does not exist or cannot be seen by the human eye. Furthermore, they may incorporate emotional, social, cultural and political thematic elements as an extension of the painted visual illusion; a distinct departure from the older and considerably more literal school of Photorealism.
-Paul Cadden
Paul Cadden is a talented Scottish hyperrealist painter and artist who was born in 1964 in Glasgow. Paul's incredible portraits with photographic detail are actually pencil drawing. He captures everyday images on camera before converting them into stunning black and white drawings. Cadden recieved his BFA in Animation and Illustration from James Watt College in 2003. His work is inspired by a fascination with the media, the way it manipulates audiences by favoring arguments in line with its own interests, and suppresses other points of view or simply diverts attention from them, resulting in to alienation and a prevailing cynicism among perceptive viewers. In addition to hyperrealism, Paul Cadden has worked as a 3D illustrator.
