Mosaic of a fish pond by Gary Drostle in London, UK

Gary Drostle: On leaving Art College in 1984 I was determined to create work outside of the gallery system. I wanted to make work out in public spaces. Works which harmonized with, and were part of, our built environment.

This vision was inspired by my long fascination with classical and ancient art and my own belief in art as an expression of all of our existence, open and accessible to all.

Over the course of more than thirty years dedicated to creating site specific artworks that original pᴀssion has only increased as I have become more aware of our relationship with our environment and my skills to create such work have broadened and developed.

Gary Drostle: The whole world of graffiti and street art I find extremely vibrant and inspiring and I am very honored to have had the opportunity to create with or alongside some great street artists including an amazing project with InkCrew in Bogota and international mosaic artists in Santiago, Chile. I have also taken part in the UpFest, Bristol and the Street Art Biennale in Cali, Colombia.

Gary Drostle: Koi lily pond mosaic – There’s something about making the surface of water in mosaic that completely captivates me but at the same time is endlessly frustrating as inevitably I fail to capture it. Each one pushes me on to the next.

Ancient Inspiration

Gary Drostle: My first and greatest inspiration has always been ancient art. From cave paintings to Greek Black Figure vases and on to the fabulous mosaic floors of the Roman world.

I studied Classics at school and find the British Museum in London is the place I return to again and again. My ‘logo’ of course was inspired by the many ghostly hands found on ancient cave sites around the world, perhaps the original signature.

Not a hand print but the impression left by a hand removed these ancient signatures for me symbolize the effect we leave behind on our environment and also represent a very open and democratic view of artistic participation.

There are two attributes of much of these works that particularly inspire me. One is the integration of these works with the human environment, they are knitted into the everyday life and culture in a way that our society seems to have almost forgotten. The second attribute is the balance of meaning, pattern and abstraction that is something I continuously aspire to.