Paintings of the Andover Estate, Islington

I lived for three years on the Andover Estate in Islington. I could look out over the estate from my flat’s balcony. It became quite a meditative experience and I began to perceive the estate buildings as mountains in the urban landscape. The Andover Estate is quite deprived in places and at times during its history it has been a notorious place for stabbings and crime. As the light faded in the evening lights would come on in the windows, and in an ever-darkening scene they felt like hope rising.

I did this as a personal project to convey that feeling, and I chose a graphic painting style using acrylics to reflect the angular shapes and blocking colours of the Estate. I called the painting ‘Hope in the Mountains’, see below.

Further development of the concept was in these small square canvases showing more colours and details from the estate.