Mike Worral

Born 1942 in Matlock Derbyshire, UK
The enigmatic, dreamlike paintings of Mike Worrall are often inspired by historical themes. Informed by his work in film, Worrall deals with the sublime in his hyperreal depictions of the mysterious. As in a dream, the quiet façade and the beauty of the large scale oil paintings masks the intriguing content and enormous energy underpinning the works.

I have been painting since the early 1960's and am almost entirely self taught. I still retain the basic technique and style developed in these early years. I am committed to exploring the subconscious and I like Paul Delvaux and Max Ernst amongst others.
I've worked in the feature film industry as an Ideas Artist. You can see my work on Alien III website. I was told by Roman Polanski that a painting of mine he had, gave him the idea of making the film Macbeth. He based the second scene on the painting. I have works in the collections of Victor Lownes, Alan Price of the Animals, Roman Polanski, Nicholas Roeg, Vincent Ward, Alex Proyas and many others.
As a child I was always intrigued by paintings involving some sought of mystery element. So I have tended to be drawn in this direction myself. Get the viewer guessing and wondering what it's about! Quite often I’m not sure myself but for some inexplicable reason it might work as a picture. I might not understand it myself even. It may be an expression on a face or just a pose or location.
I'm a firm believer that I should not have to attempt to explain the enigma to people and that the picture should retain some mystery for a lasting interest. This I hasten to add is not so with all work off course! I’m only referring to my surreal content paintings!