Playing into the bleak and dreary atmosphere that resonates with the viewer on the level of relatable melancholy, Swan evokes a sense of familiarity with these characters, reminiscing of encounters in pubs and smoking areas, upon which we unconsciously project traits of these fictionalized figures onto fragments of our own memory. Additionally, the artist’s repertoire includes the host of anthropomorphised animals such as dogs, rabbits, and crocodiles – each possessing a strange human-like quality.

Realistic and grounded, but at the same time not completely devoid of the surreal, Swan’s work invites their viewers to indulge into the artist’s nihilistic worldview and uncover the hidden aspect of human nature, that one would often spend a life time concealing.

Stewart Swan has graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2005 with a BA (Hons) degree in Visual Communication and since then has been working in a wide variety of media and techniques - drawing, painting, illustration, graphic design and digital imaging. Over the past ten years, Swan has developed and mature as a commercial painter as well as a skilled communicator through art, adopting a recognisable visual language that brough him success in showcasing works through a number of solo and group exhibitions.