Kieran Stiles
b. 1970, United Kingdom
Kieran Stiles (b. 1970, Guildford, UK) is a contemporary painter based in Oxfordshire.
His work often starts in the landscapes of Cornwall, where he originally trained, studying Fine Art at Falmouth. These works are then developed and refined over subsequent weeks in his Oxford studio. As Kieran puts it: “Colour is exciting and experimenting with it can provoke all kinds of questions. Life is abstract and vision can be beyond conventional realism. This way of working allows me to paint what I feel and imagine, not what I know.” Kieran also lectures at The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, in connection with their major exhibitions, and in 2019 was Visiting Research Fellow in the Arts at Merton College, Oxford, where his exhibition, Lightscape, curated by Flora Fairbairn, was listed as a Top Pick in the Saturday Times by Rachel Campbell-Johnston. As part of this research fellowship, he explored the links between psychological wellbeing and creativity. Stiles also founded Oxford’s independent art school, Art Courses Oxford, which specialises in developing innovative and assessable ways in which people can explore art and their own creativity.
His work is held in many influential and distinguished collections internationally.