Ajax Piper

Ajax is an artist based in Hastings, England. His practice lives between quiet studio hours making oil paintings and noisy, public days painting murals. While these contexts differ, they are rooted in the same curiosity: How painting can deepen our relationship to place, nature and one another. His work spans festivals, public commissions, and collaborations with councils, arts organisations, and environmental and social initiatives. Alongside his studio work, community engagement forms an important part of his approach as a muralist. He has led painting workshops in the UK and internationally, including projects in Cáqueza, Colombia (2023) and at Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire (2024). His process moves between careful observation and intuitive mark making. Grounded in realism but guided by imagination, shapes, colours and forms found in nature are bent, simplified and reassembled. Recurring themes in his work include rural life, folklore, and the relationship between people and the natural world. Whether on a canvas or a building, he aims to create paintings that interrupt the everyday and invite reflection, wonder and renewed connection.