Jo Thorne is a British painter specialising in contemporary expressionist painting. She graduated with a degree in Fine Art from the University of Hertfordshire (St. Albans School of Art) in 1998 and works from her studio at her home in Bristol.
Strongly influenced by early 20th-century expressionism, Jo describes her paintings as visual narratives that explore human connection through abstract painting and experimentation.
"What are the things in our collective unconscious that can trigger an emotional response? I use colour and expressive mark-making to spark a connection with the viewer. I aim to communicate a commonly experienced feeling or convey our emotional bond with nature and the built environment.
I start with a more representational idea, but I paint spontaneously and meditatively, often to music; embracing unconscious mark-making and heightening colour as I go. I allow the painting to take its own course and want the end piece to leave the viewer with a sense of mood, space, time, or place.
Jo Thorne
Jo Thorne is a Bristol based artist specialising in contemporary expressionist oil painting. Characterised by rich colours and an emphasis on light, Jo invites the viewer on a journey to a paradoxical realm where recognisable elements of the physical World meets fantasy. Working spontaneously along to music, the artist creates dreamlike scapes and aims for her paintings to leave the viewer with a sense of freedom and escapism.