Jeremy Houghton’s Flamingo Collection.

Jeremy Houghton’s flamingo series emerged from an early residency in South Africa and has since developed into a sustained exploration of movement, perception and the experience of observing the natural world. While grounded in close study, these works move beyond descriptive representation, focusing instead on the translation of motion, atmosphere and collective presence.

Rather than emphasising anatomical precision, Houghton approaches the subject through a process of reduction and intuitive mark-making. The flamingos are not fixed as individual specimens, but appear within a shifting field of light, colour and space. Forms emerge and dissolve, suggesting movement rather than defining it, and allowing the viewer to engage with the image as a perceptual experience rather than a static record.

The origins of this body of work lie in Houghton’s residency at Kamfers Dam, where the Oppenheimer family supported conservation efforts to protect endangered flamingo populations. Working directly within this environment, Houghton developed a responsive approach, allowing the conditions of the landscape – its light, scale and fluidity – to inform the language of the paintings. The process was less predetermined than observational, shaped by immersion and a willingness to respond to what was encountered.

Over time, the flamingo series has evolved into a distinct yet integral part of his wider practice. In contrast to the more restrained, tonal works developed through structured residencies, these paintings allow for a more expansive use of colour and surface, while maintaining the same underlying concern with distillation and perception. The introduction of gold leaf in recent works further emphasises a sense of luminosity and rarity, extending the visual and material language of the series.

Across this body of work, the flamingo functions not simply as subject, but as a means through which broader ideas of movement, rhythm and collective form can be explored. The paintings do not seek to define the bird, but to convey the sensation of being within its environment – where boundaries between figure and ground soften, and where perception remains fluid and incomplete.

Taken together, the flamingo series represents a sustained inquiry into how the natural world can be experienced through painting. It is not a departure from Houghton’s practice, but an expansion of it – a space in which observation becomes more immersive, and where the language of painting opens into a more intuitive and expressive register.

An essay on Jeremy’s flamingo paintings can be found here.

To see more paintings from Jeremy’s portfolio of flamingos click here.