Born in Corner Brook,
Newfoundland, in 1985, artist Mike Gough received his Bachelor of Fine Arts
from Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in 2007 and graduated from Central Saint
Martins College of Art and Design in London with a Master of Fine Arts in
2010.
Gough’s interest in
the elusive quality of memory is a constant interest in his art practice.
Rooted in memories of his upbringing in Newfoundland, his autobiographical
paintings carry universal narratives. In the absence of detail, there is an
opportunity for one’s own memories to fill in the details. Expansive solitude
and a sense of isolation are met with a universal feeling of what it means to
belong. At its core, his practice explores how our relationship with the
natural world connects and defines us. Working in mixed media, Gough endeavors
to create familiar meditative spaces that exhibit a personal journey, but simultaneously
invite the viewer to insert themselves in the narrative.
Gough’s paintings
partially stem from fear of memory loss which is taken from experiences with
Alzheimer’s in his family. Not only does the painting process exercise his
memory, but the paintings themselves act as records of his experience becoming
a blend of reality and idealism. They are not painted from photographs, the
places not precisely rendered, and the experiences not accurately told. With this
incongruence, they are his authentic recollections of them. Gough’s intent in
his work is to create a patchwork map of memories as a guide back to the
authenticity of human feeling.
Gough was the winner of the
Excellence in Visual Arts (EVA) People’s Choice Award in 2015 and was
shortlisted for the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Emerging Artist of
the Year in 2013. Gough has been the recipient of numerous Arts and Letters
Awards and was selected for both the Elbow Room Residency Program (2013) at the
Rooms Provincial Art Gallery and the Artist in Residence (2016) at 2 Rooms
Contemporary Art Projects in Duntara, Newfoundland.
Gough has exhibited
both nationally and internationally in over 40 exhibitions and his work appears
in private, corporate, and public collections in England and Canada, including
The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, Humber College, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College,
The City of St. John’s, and Global Affairs Canada. Prominent collectors include
the United Arab Emirates Royal Family.
