About – Who on earth even is Junior Durrani?

Junior Durrani is a painter based in Eaglescliffe. Originally born in Peterborough to a Middlesbrough-born mother and a Pakistani father (who both ran away in secret - it was a different time!) he later grew up in Stockton-on-Tees, and later lived in Middlesbrough, where he studied English Literature at Teesside University. After obtaining his PGCE in Primary Education from Northumbria University, Junior worked full time as a primary school teacher for several years. The passing of his mum became a pivotal moment in his life, prompting him to reconnect with his love of painting and drawing. Currently, he balances his passion for art and self-expression with his role as a supply teacher in various local schools, while dedicating time to his daughter and wife.  

The “Artist Statement”

When I paint, I usually begin with photographs that resonate with my own story — moments I’ve lived through and want to re-explore. Time often deepens my interest in these memories, making me want to see them again through paint. I’m less concerned with replicating a photo exactly and more interested in capturing the feelings it brings back, along with the emotions I’m experiencing right now as I revisit it.

I enjoy the physicality of painting: I like to lay on thick layers, sometimes scraping them away at a flick of a palette knife, or building more and more depth and texture, and seeing what emerges. It still delights me how brushes and knives can leave such bold, unpredictable marks. Painting, for me, is always a push and pull between recreating fragments of reality and giving in to the childlike joy of mark-making. That tension is what keeps me painting (and, yes, I guess what artists call “a process”).