Inside the mind of Padgate artist Cameron Brown

Well, Padgate artist Cameron Brown is the man to ask.

We got an insight as to the thought behind his artwork such ‘In The Particular’ that has graced Pyramid Atrium from February 4 and will do until April 8.

“It’s definitely surreal,” said Cameron.

“The exhibition was an amazing opportunity. I’ve had these ideas and notebooks full of plans and sketches so I knew exactly what I wanted to do with an exhibition if the opportunity ever arose.

“As soon as it did I knew what I was doing and it was time to get grafting.”

The 27-year-old’s art gets across the idea of ‘a memory of a memory’ and relates his work to a game of Chinese whispers.

He added: “The premise of my work is about how we physically interact with a space. The idea of being more aware of your surroundings but also being aware of the idea that everything that you’re doing has already been repeated.

“One of the paintings was a photograph I took of my partner in a wicker chair in the back of the pub and all I thought of was as to how many people had sat in that chair.

“When I paint it, I’ll do a drawing and then another study based on the drawing rather than the original image and paint that.

Cameron taps into the idea of 'a memory of a memory' in his work

“It’s almost like Chinese whispers. You start to lose more of the individual subject but it opens up the possibility of the deeper situations that could have happened.

“It’s about noticing the small, trivial things is more key to how I experience my life rather than thinking of things in bigger concepts.

“I wanted to open it up so they are scenes that people can interact with and you can sit there and hear stories being told around the pub.”

Art is has been a passion of Cameron’s for as long as he can remember.

“My mum was a freelance art teacher and from a young age I always had a pencil in my hand and drawing bits and bobs,” continued Cameron.

“It was also encouraged by my parents which was great.”

Visitors have enjoyed Cameron's work in the Atrium

Plans for a journalism degree were put on pause when he was encouraged to continue with art for a year at Priestley College and assess the situation after a year.

The former student said: “That was a big turning point for me. I was encouraged to stick at the art and that was it, I have never really looked back.

“It was something I loved doing but I never really saw it as something that would be my primary focus.

“I knew I was doing well with it. Having that freedom to experiment and try new approaches to artwork I had never really considered before, that opened the doors for me.

“I thought ‘this is it’ and this is what I want to do.”