Fay Watanabe Pritchard (b. 2003) holds First Class Honours in Fine Art from Manchester Metropolitan (2025). She has received the No1 Spinningfields award in collaboration with MMU (2025), as well as being a bursary winner for Castlefield associates and further graduating with the Castlefield mentorship (2025). Fay has volunteer experience with esea contemporary and has exhibited in group organised events, as well as recent showings with Comme Ca art, leading to sales across Europe.

 

Artist Statement

During a time of political and environmental crisis my practice allows me to question what role the environment holds in my own life through painting abstract and emotional landscapes. As humans, we are motivated by emotions over overwhelming statistics and pure rationality, and so I believe that how we treat the natural world begins with how we emotionally and culturally perceive it. My own memories of nature stem from landscapes in Japan and Britain, and so I’ve always found it interesting how across history and cultures, different relationships with nature have shaped traditions that prioritise care, protection, and intergenerational responsibility. In Japanese Shinto tradition, it is believed that there are countless Kami (spirits), that exists within all things nature, man-made, and even within ourselves. This full circle between us and nature implies that developing love and appreciation for nature, allows you to discover love and appreciation for oneself. Inspired by this, my painting practice is a form of worshipping the phenomenon that it is a miracle that we as humans are alive and alongside nature.

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Painting on a large scale in oil paint on light calico, I form markings that bleed and layer, often leading to rather organic forms and colours. As I paint, I search for the feeling of discovery, like a place or a feeling, something you wish you could have discovered earlier, yet you never believed you could. This thought process mirrors onto the canvas, as the painting results in a glorified and mystical landscape, aiming to recreate superstition and hope that one senses when in the presence of a grand mountain or under the ceiling of a religious building.

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If there is one thing I hope viewers gain from my work, it is the inspiration to develop their own personal relationship with nature, rooted in memory, imagination, and gratitude. By reflecting on what that relationship has been, and what it could become, this connection can grow into a gift, one that benefits us as humans, and shapes how we choose to treat the natural world in return. At least that is my intention for myself.