The art of Christopher Pratt is rich and varied. Through both his visual art and his literary works, Pratt truly embodies the spirit of Newfoundland and yet, somehow goes beyond the specifics of the Province to speak to almost anyone. Whether it is a clapboard house overlooking the sea, a young girl with seashells carefully arranged in the folds of her dress or a poem about someone he has known, Pratt invariably invokes feelings in his audience.

Pratt's artwork itself has been described in many ways: surrealist, realist, abstract, hyperrealist, the list goes on. It seems that everyone has their own idea of what the style of his work is. That being said, a few generalisations can be made.

Pratt's work is based almost entirely on memory. He never paints from photographs and only when doing figure work does he sketch while observing the subject. Often, an idea will occur to Pratt, but nothing will be done with it for a while. That idea, however, may surface a week, a month, a year, or even a decade later to be turned into a print or a painting.

Partially due to his use of memory as an inspirational source, his images are often very non-specific and have titles that imply generality. For example, Station, Institution, Cottage, and Big Boat.Titles such as Deer Lake: Junction Brook Memorial or Benoit's Cove: Sheds in Winter show that Pratt wants to indicate a strong association with a specific place. While a work may be based on a specific thing, as is the case in The Bridge, the image of the real object has become so abstracted from time and place and devoid of identifying detail that it could be any one of many such bridges. Pratt's works rarely, if ever, have signs or indications of wear or decay in them.

Pratt generally works in painting and printmaking media, specifically oil paints, watercolours, silkscreen and lithography. Occasionally, he used other media such as woodcut or collage, and sometimes he combines several different media to form what is called a mixed-media work.

The following pages will help you further explore the artwork of Christopher Pratt. If you'd like to know more about the types of media he works in or the process he goes through to arrive at a finished work, have a look at the process and media section of this site. If you prefer to learn more about the various subjects that he has used over the years, check out the section on subject. Finally, if you'd just like to experience the visual art of Christopher Pratt, visit the gallery section.