Mark Hearld has an unbridled passion for making, and his extraordinary creativity leads to collaborative projects with artists and traditional craft makers across multiple disciplines. Collage is central to Mark Hearld’s artistic output, not only as a medium but as a process that is firmly rooted in twentieth-century art. Collage was a technique used by Matisse, Picasso and John Piper to introduce abstraction into their images. Mark similarly uses this means of abstraction, combined with his traditional academic training and careful observation, to inform his creativity.
Mark Hearld studied illustration at the Glasgow School of Art before completing an MA in Natural History Illustration at the Royal College of Art, London. He lives and works from his eclectic and iconic home in York.
The Gallery has enjoyed Mark’s theatrical, creative, immersive world ever since Mark Hearld & Friends debuted in 2009. He is also a great believer in artist collaboration, and he regularly works with other artisan printmakers and creators. Hearld takes inspiration from the natural world, particularly British flora and fauna, the fox and chicken, hedgerow, and songbird. He works across several mediums; his paintings, collage, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, designs and motifs are drawn from a lifetime of looking at pattern books, popular prints, primitive art and the poetry of Blake.
Highlights of his remarkable career include The Lumber Room held at York Art Gallery from 2015-2017 where Mark curated a room of miscellaneous stored objects and artefacts and in 2018, Mark re-displayed the British Folk Art collection at Compton Verney. York Sculpture Park celebrated Hearld’s career in 2021 which included several large scale sculptures, flat weave tapestry and papercuts.
To view prints by this artist please click here.
