John Lloyd works within portraiture and still life, which uses a variety of candy-coloured pastel tones that show references to Director Wes Anderson and Jacques Demy. This distinct and striking aesthetic can easily be recognised within his paintings.

 

Most recently, John Lloyd’s work provides a more complex narrative, creating a visceral depiction of loneliness and turmoil of one’s mental health. This is illustrated by using isolated figures surrounded by symbolic motifs or fashionable items. 

 


John often paints sitters that he has no personal connection with, allowing him to project his is own emotions and insecurities on individuals, whilst still retaining and blending in the emotions of the sitter. 

This is emphasised by the use of motifs in his works. Throughout Lloyd’s work you will discover motifs each having a symbolic meaning and illustrated in a cartoon manner that takes influence from Phillip Guston. In a similar way to Guston, he wants the viewer to question the value of these recurring cartoon motifs. Although the imagery has a serious undertone, John himself questions if these are irrational thoughts and debates the insecurity that surrounds them. 

 

Lloyd’s work is personal, and he hopes his work can elicit emotional responses and provoke the viewers to reflect on their own discomforts