Toby Rainbird
About
Toby Rainbird is a London-based artist from the island of Jersey, holding an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art and a BA in Fine Art from Bath Spa University.
Rainbird’s practice is an act of conscious play, embracing what he terms an “inconsequentially high-risk” painting method, which allows the work to evolve through trial and error rather than adhering to a premeditated trajectory.
Through play and a sensibility for the fluid qualities of paint, seemingly negligible or peripheral subjects open up to unexpected directions—beyond anticipation or appearance. Rainbird’s art is a form of visual flirting, dabbling with the potential of significant forms and concepts while maintaining a deliberate distance from direct or heavily symbolic gestures.
The challenge for Rainbird lies not in depicting a new or sensational spectacle but in encountering something unexpected in a seemingly obvious or unassuming place. He emphasises conscious play in his practice because it embodies a deliberate responsibility in the use of language and an awareness of position, while allowing the unknown or farcical to guide the process.
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