Raphael's work is figurative and symbolistic, encompassing themes of mythology, esotericism and landscape both natural and urban. He is primarily concerned with the physical development and refinement of my monochrome mark-making to work synergistically with his inner visions and personal aesthetic, as well as building on and exploring the interplay of light and dark.
Raphael Appignanesi graduated with a First-Class Honours BA in Illustration (awarded Best Student in Narration and Illustration) from Sir John Cass, Metropolitan University, London (2013) and gained an MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art (2018).
He has worked at home and abroad as studio assistant to internationally renowned artists.
In 2018 he was awarded the Gwen May Recent Graduate Award and so has been exhibiting with the RE as a Student Member before his election an Associate Member in 2021.
“I work in the areas of symbolism, mythology and dreams. Mythology and dreams are two sides of the same coin and for me the remaining psychology in modern times relevant to the communication of unconscious realities hidden below the surface of everyday life. These unrecognized symbolic states act like a deep undercurrent of gravity influencing us collectively. Psychoanalysis understood our primitive connection to myth but which also occurs in ecology, where the interconnectedness of all things in nature is an absolute condition of the earth’s survival.
I also explore these psychological states topographically in landscapes and modern urban conditions. These conditions of crisis, uncertainty, and accelerated transformation of cityscapes find echo in my composition of space and reflect the hidden undercurrents of myth and symbolism.”
