Part of the mission statement of a certain popular syfy show is ‘to boldly go…’ To boldly go, that is, to explore, experiment, strive, challenge, is or should be the mission of the artist. Stephen Thornhill embraces this ethos. He has established a career as a CGI artist having worked for some of Britain’s top post-production companies on blockbuster movies such as James Bond, Harry Potter and Iron Man. He has exhibited paintings and drawings, designed logos, cartoons and other graphics, stone carved, and contributed as writer and voice-over to indie shorts.
Stephen grew up in the Brixton area of southeast London he discovered art at a young age but hadn't taken it seriously until he was aged 18. A late starter, you might say, but a local graphic design studio saw his potential and took a chance on him. Whilst working there he did a design degree part-time at the London School of Communication and followed through with a Master's Degree in Computer Animation at Bournemouth University. His first CGI job was on the reboot of Captain Scarlet (incidentally, he can be spotted as a deadly motorbike riding character in one episode, having served as the model for the wireframe).
‘Blink Don’t Blink’ is part of a new direction for Stephen - he also created the music - as he takes his show on the road focusing on his personal vision with installations and filmed projects that might or might not include CGI. He sees experiment as the ‘life blood of the creative process , and continues to explore, strive, challenge and boldly go.