Chris Shopland is an expressionist neurodivergent (AuDHD) artist whose work explores belonging, identity, authentic self-expression, and what it means to experience and navigate the world differently. Through expressive figures, imagined faces, animals, landscapes and surreal, otherworldly scenes, his paintings explore connection and the search for meaning. Drawing from his own experience of seeing the world differently, through a neurodivergent lens Chris explores the shared human desire to understand ourselves, find belonging and embrace what truly makes us unique.
His work is held in private collections around the world, and he has exhibited across Bristol and internationally, including a Nevada fine arts open call exhibition and live painting at Bristol’s Upfest in 2022 and 2024. Working primarily in acrylic with mixed media elements, Chris creates paintings that balance observation with imagination, using experimentation, intuition and layered processes to bring each piece to life.
“I rarely know where my ideas come from. I often feel I’m simply the channel through which they arrive. Sometimes an image appears fully formed in my mind, and my role is to discover how to bring it to life. Layer by layer, through experimentation, mistakes and minor course corrections, each painting gradually reveals itself. It rarely ends exactly as I first imagined; instead, it becomes a collaboration between myself and the canvas. Some paintings arrive quickly, while others have to be wrestled with, and that process, that challenge, is part of the joy.
After graduating with a degree in illustration, I spent several years away from art, questioning what I wanted to create and why. I needed a break from making work simply for deadlines or briefs, but to return to communicate ideas, emotions and experiences. In 2018, I began finding my way back to art through fine art, slowly rediscovering my own visual language, experimenting and shaking off the rust. Since then, and first original sold at start of 2019, I have continued developing a practice rooted in experimenting, play, curiosity, connection and discovery.
Art is not simply what I do; it is who I am and how I understand myself, connect with others, and explore the world around me.”
