Adam Baker watches like a realist and comes out with paintings that are truly surreal

Romanticised land and sea, bones and joints that could cut, and discovery abound. Adam Baker’s brushstrokes subvert our notions of home and away. The foreground typically shows naked figures, and in the background the sand becomes a mattress – the sea is the perfect place to drink martinis and when compared, laying on sofas and beds just isn’t comfortable enough. Often stirred by his surroundings: “the graffiti, the architecture, the sky on my bike ride home, and more recently, the birds I see on a daily basis,” he expands on his appreciation for landscapes and human connection in his latest series Passing through the Soft Storm.

Adam was born and raised in Ipswich in Suffolk. Some of his earliest childhood memories involve drawing on big pads of paper for hours on end, which he attributes to his experience with dyslexia and ADHD. “I think it’s why I was so drawn to image making, it was a way to express myself without the need for written words,” he tells us. Relocating to London to study at the Wimbledon College of Art in 2012 and later graduating in 2015, the artist has since cultivated a practice that questions the very premise of human existence and LGBTQ issues.

Passing through the Soft Storm showcases the beauty of respite. Not only for the figures shown throughout, but the artist too. Because, it would be impossible to see the depth of the colour, hue, shadow and emotion in these scenes without a moment to stop and look, right? Adam was heavily inspired by a trip taken a few months ago with friends, where for the first time in years, he was able to escape the city. “The personal insights gained on this trip had such a huge influence on [the series and] show,” he shares. Although many of the works are directly inspired by scenes throughout the trip, there is a feeling of memory and sentimentality evoked by looking back on a lifetime of holidays and outings with those we love. “Many of the works draw from my own personal experiences [beyond the trip], the people around me and various states of being.”

This layered feeling is perhaps a result of Adam’s approach. First he is “playfully taking images of friends, family and lovers (and the occasional self portrait) in recreational or intimate settings,” he tells us. Then he goes through a process of drawing these images and combining a variety of references, before photocopying them and playing with colour. Later, the artist cuts and merges the sections together until he is satisfied with the overall composition, and starts to paint using a “gritty marble dust gesso mix”. Using marble dust as a means to play with layering (as it allows the layers beneath to slowly emerge), he continues to add and alter until satisfied, leaving them to “sit and stew” before returning to them – in no specific time – when he has a clearer perspective on the work. “The challenge is in making sure the preliminary sketches or plans don’t dictate the direction of the painting too much,” instead wanting them to “bring out new ideas and expressions as I go,” he adds.

All things considered, Adam’s process goes hand in hand with love for being fully immersed in his surroundings. He wields the attentive eye of a naturalist and exposes the magic beneath all that we see with the gusto of a surrealist. “I’ve found that making work in the context of a show really brings out the poetry in my practice. You really start to think of the paintings in relation to one another, and how they portray a larger narrative,” he shares. And now that this one is over, he has his sights set on another in the future, but until then, Passing through the Soft Storm continues to inspire us in the digital realm, reminding us of the matchless discovery when away.

Passing through the Soft Storm was held at Schlomer Haus Gallery from November 3 to December 23, you can view a wider collection of the artworks here.