Terry Setch: ‘I regarded the beach as a playground – somewhere you can behave irreverently’

The artist explains his practice, recalling memories of the beach at Penarth and his desire to extend the surface of his paintings. We spoke to Setch at Flowers Cork Street, at the opening of his exhibition, Reduced to Rubble

Royal Academician Terry Setch (b1936, London) moved to South Wales in 1969 to live on the coast in Penarth. From that time, his work has been a response to the beach and seascapes that he sees on his daily walks: some pieces more playful; others responding to serious political issues, such as pollution and the Ebola crisis.

Dedicated to painting, and steeped in the British tradition stretching back to JMW Turner, Setch seeks, nevertheless, to extend his surfaces into and including 3D objects – often found objects and detritus from the beach, or reconstructions thereof, fossilised in polypropylene and wax. The result is a multisensual bombardment, synthesising the natural and manmade – far more than just an abstract work, but something that viewers can “feel” and respond to.

Terry Setch: Reduced to Rubble
Flowers Cork Street, London
16 March – 16 April 2016

Interview by ANNA McNAY
Filmed by MARTIN KENNEDY