The persistence of light

Words by Mercedes Smith Finding a renewed sense of connection to self, memory and emotional response through the work of Jack Davis.

My first thought on viewing Jack Davis’s work is that it has something of the late 19th century about it. I am thinking particularly of St Ives artist Julius Olsson RA (1864–1942), who painted marine works that captured the mirrored energy of sea and sky, emphasised by compositions that split the canvas cleanly in two at the horizon line. There are no ships or people in Olsson’s paintings. Like Jack’s, they are seascapes for the solitary viewer alone with the power of the elements. Scale, too, is used by both artists to give a thrilling sense of our smallness before the power of the ocean. “Scale changes the way a viewer experiences a painting physically,” says Jack. “Large works create a sense of immersion, encouraging people to feel as though they are within the landscape itself, on the edge of a cliff perhaps, or placing sunken footsteps in the sand.” 

While I see Olsson, Jack describes a more 20th century influence on his work. “I am deeply aware of the rich artistic history of Cornwall and the generations of painters who have responded to its landscape before me,” he says. “I have always admired artists such as Peter Lanyon and Bryan Wynter, whose work captured not only the appearance of the landscape but also its energy and spirit. What interests me most is their willingness to move beyond straightforward representation and to develop a personal visual language rooted in place. That’s something I continually aspire to in my own work.” Jack is right. Where Olsson was figurative, Jack employs a more expressive use of form and palette, citing Turner, Whistler and Colour Field painter Rothko as influences, all of whom came to West Cornwall in their time. “Colour is one of the most expressive tools available to a painter,” he says. “Although my work begins with observation, I don’t feel bound to reproduce colour exactly as I see it. Instead, I use colour to evoke mood and atmosphere. Sometimes that means pushing a palette towards heightened intensity; at other times it means reducing it to a limited range of tones. I am interested in how colours interact and create emotional responses, and often a painting evolves through discovering unexpected relationships between different hues.”

Jack lives and works in Lelant on the fringes of St Ives, and like Lanyon and Wynter before him, his own paintings respond to the landscape of Penwith. Its coastline, which is subject to heavy skies and sudden storms, is a metaphor for human experience in his work, which explores ideas of emotional weight, introspection and the possibility of clarity and renewal. His latest exhibition, Behind Dark Clouds, on show at New Craftsman Gallery this August, follows an underlying thread that runs throughout his painting: the persistence of light beyond obscurity. “Light and dark are fundamental to how I construct a painting,” says Jack. “I am fascinated by contrast – not just visually, but emotionally. Light can suggest hope, distance or revelation, while darker passages can introduce mystery, uncertainty or depth. Often the painting emerges through a process of balancing those opposing forces. Cornwall’s weather is constantly changing, and that creates dramatic shifts in tone and atmosphere that I try to translate into paint. That tension between illumination and shadow helps create a sense of emotional resonance.” The exhibition centres on his ongoing relationship with the Cornish coast, and moments of inner reflection. “My paintings are not intended as literal records of particular places,” says Jack. “They are about capturing an atmosphere, a memory, or a fleeting sensation of being on the coast and gazing into the horizon.” 

Many of the works explore the meeting point between sea and sky, and the way these elements shift and transform through changing weather and light.” West Cornwall, of course, with its powerful Atlantic weather fronts and temperamental seas, provides endless inspiration for Jack. “I am most inspired by transitional weather,” he says, “by moody sunsets and dark storm clouds rolling in from the Atlantic, by those moments when conditions are changing and the sea and sky feel unpredictable. Storm fronts moving across the ocean, or sudden shafts of sunlight breaking through heavy cloud, all create a sense of drama and possibility.” 

Jack’s focus on the power and drama of his subject is another link, in my mind, to historic landscape painting, with its focus on defining the ‘sublime’: from the Baroque period onwards, artists have sought to share their sense of awe before the grandeur of nature, and Jack’s works have that same emotional power. 

“Cornwall offers an extraordinary combination of physical beauty and elemental forces,” he says. “This landscape is remote, rugged, and infused with an ancient primal majesty. When I paint, I harness the impulsive energy of my subject matter and create order out of chaos, mirroring the landscape I inhabit.” What Jack poetically describes as the “pulse and flux of vacillating weather, and the luminosity of operatic light” has drawn exceptional painters to Cornwall for centuries, so the bar for emerging young artists is a high one. “Cornwall has inspired generations of remarkable painters, so there is always a danger of simply repeating what has come before,” says Jack. “The challenge is finding a voice that feels authentic while acknowledging the weight of that history. The Cornish landscape may be the same, but every generation brings a different perspective, shaped by contemporary concerns and ways of seeing. My mission is to create authentic, powerful expressions that celebrate the elemental nature of Cornwall.” 

In terms of talent and credibility, Jack is well placed to take on that cultural responsibility. With a degree in Fine Art from Falmouth University and representation at St Ives’ most historic gallery, he has already been selected for the Threadneedle ‘Figurative Art Today’ prize and The Bryant & Keeling ‘Painting Now’ prize, and he has been awarded the ‘Future Now: 100 Contemporary Artists’ Aesthetica Prize and the ‘See Me’ Global Art Competition prize. What, I ask him, would he like this latest show at New Craftsman to achieve? “I hope people come away from this exhibition with a renewed sense of connection to themselves, to memory, and perhaps to their own emotional responses,” he says. “I don’t expect viewers to interpret the paintings in a particular way. Instead, I would like the work to create space for contemplation and personal reflection. If someone leaves feeling they have experienced a moment of stillness, wonder or recognition, then the paintings have done their job. My work is about finding the light even in the darkest times, so I would like my show to offer hope and create a sense of inner strength.”

See Jack Davis, Behind Dark Clouds from 8th August to 4th September 2026 at New Craftsman Gallery, 24 Fore St, St Ives and at newcraftsmanstives.com. 

  newcraftsmanstives.com