It is often remarked that the quality and nuance of painting is only understood in person rather than in print or on the screens to which are now accustomed, but Graham Dean’s paintings are a true example of the palpable materials and saturated pigments lost in reproduction. In his most recent paintings, handmade paper is intensely worked with a confidence that arises above preciousness, and yet his subjects are indeed precious and have emotional interior lives mimicking the sensuousness of his pigments.

For Dean, the body is a ‘holding-pen of emotions.’ His work is inspired by the research of Wilhelm Reich, a student of Sigmund Freud, and particularly the concept of 'armoring,' or the unique coping mechanisms we develop to withstand life which then become our psychological 'suits of armor.'

Using what he calls "reverse archaeology," Dean re-invents the traditional uses of watercolor resulting in a unique technique. Contrasting layers of paint are applied separately on thick, handmade paper from India. Each sheet has undergone a process of tearing and overlapping to create a final composition, this corresponds to the multiple layers of the epidermis which protects the human body. The process is organic and cyclical, the paintings appear fragmented and destroyed using sections (front and back) that lead to a renaissance in the form of a new composition.

Dean has exhibited internationally now for over 25 years including in China, the Netherlands, Italy, and Singapore. His work is in many private and public collections throughout the world, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Contemporary Arts Society, the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art, the Ferens Museum and Art Gallery, Hull, and Arts Council England. His corporate collections include Merrill Lynch, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Simmons and Simmons. He lives and works in Brighton, England.