Mike Thebridge is a British artist who lives and works in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine and has a studio in London, UK. Having studied painting at Winchester School of Art, Mike lived and worked in London for several years making solely digital artwork. He returned to painting about 3 years ago, with a focus on portraits. He works primarily in acrylic and collages realist depictions with abstraction and patterns.
Growing up I struggled to share my feelings, let go of my worries and was often overwhelmed by my thoughts. This impacted how I connected with others; as I learned more about self-reflection and mindfulness I found it easier to overcome these difficulties, which is why I create the art I create today.
My work explores themes of connectedness, the relevance of self-identity and psychedelic or altered experience. There is a sharp contrast between our felt experience, our physical reality, and others’ perception of us, which is increasingly obscured by our increasing presence in digital spaces.
My personal journey with meditation has helped me find moments of serenity in an increasingly chaotic world.
Each painting represents a flickering between being in the present moment to being washed away by a cascade of thoughts, mental images and chatter or overwhelming emotion. My work encourages self-reflection, mindfulness and questioning the hierarchy or importance of thoughts and experiences.
These lines of enquiry should inform how we handle our inner world and make sense of our experiences, as well as how we understand and see others.
