Wayne was born in Bradford and studied at Bradford College and Wimbledon School of Art respectively. He has had work exhibited in a number of illustrious shows including the John Moores Painting Prize, BP Portrait Award and The Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual event. Wayne has work in both public and private collections including the Seabrook Priseman Collection which now features on Bloomberg Connects.
Most recently he has had work published in Art Evol 2025 Voices from the Undefined.
Wayne’s work has also appeared in 500 Portraits 25 Years of the BP Portrait Award.
Artists consciously or unconsciously embed systems of belief, values, and power structures into their work. Art is never produced in a vacuum; it emerges from specific cultural, political, and historical contexts that shape both its creation and reception. Artists may use their practice to reinforce dominant ideologies, challenge them, or expose their underlying assumptions.
My paintings derive from portraits of pioneering British artists and educators associated with various political art movements that gained prominence and critical attention during the 1980s. Working across a variety of methodologies, each artist often conducted research-driven projects that explored a number of concerns such as cultural memory and the dynamics of visibility.
My paintings pay homage to particular artists who produce work that invariably foregrounds issues around class, race and gender. This corresponds to my own artistic ambitions where I feel an urgency to examine wider political concerns through painting practice.