Art and Social Anxiety: Laurence Couchman

Laurence is an untrained artist who, eighteen months ago, was deep in an abstract expressionist phase, enjoying the influence of greats from Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner to Robert Rauschenberg and the later works of Ian Fairweather.

Many of these works sold in 2014 at Laurence’s first solo show. Kurt Schwitters, a famous Dada Artist, has had a particularly strong influence on Laurence’s current style.

However the value of art goes deeper than a literally colourful lifestyle and the dream of one day earning a living from the perceived value of his work. Laurence’s practice has also provided a vehicle to move therapeutically away from years of social anxiety, a condition he has publicly championed the support of.