Series Spotlight - Outer World by Michael Banks

Michael Banks, nicknamed the ‘Guru of Abstraction’, is a British Photo-Artist who aspires to ‘show the Hidden Beauty that surrounds us, in the forms, shapes, curves, lines, and colours of my abstractions’. In his own words, Banks' highly imaginative Outer World series moves past our planet, ‘beyond our own solar system’, even, and uses the ‘deep and mysterious inner beauty of our planet’ to ‘influence and stimulate the imaginary potential existence of outer worlds’.

The Outer World series is full of inky atmospheres and colourful climates, swirling surfaces that mix and blend to create an intriguing and breathtaking collection. It takes inspiration from ‘the infinite creativity of nature to develop complex systems and organisms’ which allow us to believe that planets this beautiful could well exist, with features and characteristics well beyond the realm of human understanding.

Banks’ personality-filled planets are both awe-inspiring and imagination-inspiring and in this collection he shows us the multitude of ‘visual wonders waiting to be discovered’, not just in our world but far beyond.