Green Veil demonstrates Kenneth Draper’s skill at infusing his works with physicality, life and movement. Although Draper first studied painting he later focused upon sculpture before returning to painting. Knowledge and an understanding of both mediums gives Draper’s paintings a sculptural depth. In Green Veil the surface is layered using oil stick with flecks of pastel dashed in all directions creating a vibration and motion within the work.

In refusing to depict anything representational Draper relies upon the work’s title to provide a narrative. However, this too is deliberately ambiguous, leaving the individual to interpret the piece. Green Veil toys with abstraction: as Draper says “the richness of pastels allows me to explore a montage of experiences”.

Kenneth Draper was born in Killamarsh, a mining village on the outskirts of Rotherham in 1944. He first studied at Chesterfield College of Art (1959-62) before continuing at Kingston School of Art, London (1962-65). In 1965 Draper shifted his attention towards sculpture, spending three years at the Royal College of Art. Quickly recognised for his exciting and refreshing style, he had his first solo exhibition at Redfern Gallery, London in 1969 and has since been featured in numerous of solo and group exhibitions throughout the UK, Europe and USA. Draper’s works are held in several public collections including the Royal Collection Trust, London, the Arts Councils of Great Britain and of Wales, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Royal Academy of Arts, London and McCrory Corporation, New York. Draper was appointed a Royal Academician in 1991.