profile
“Neil is one of the most highly respected and innovative engravers working today. His technical skill transforms this ancient medium, pushing it to a new modernity & relevance. This, coupled with his unique vision, creates unforgettable multi-layered images – art for today & tomorrow” J. Bell
Neil Bousfield is a British artist known for his distinctive approach to wood engraving and woodcut. He lives and works on the North Norfolk coast.
His reduction and multi-block relief engravings combine subtle overlays of printed colour, tone, and pattern, bringing depth and texture to his work. Blending traditional techniques with innovative ideas, he experiments with both synthetic and natural blocks to achieve his artistic vision.
Since 2011, Bousfield’s work has centred on the idea of home and the fragile space between land and sea, exploring what happens to communities deeply connected to places at risk from rising sea levels. His engravings reflect on coastal erosion and climate change, connecting his own experiences on the Norfolk coast with other vulnerable shorelines around the world.
With a lifelong passion for maps, he combines global imagery and location-based drawings to highlight how the sea connects distant places. Through this, he questions ideas of authenticity and the role of personal experience in shaping our understanding of changing landscapes.
Born in Middlesbrough and raised on the North Yorkshire coast, Bousfield is an elected member of The Society of Wood Engravers and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. His work is held in collections worldwide.