It was during an exhibition that I came across the work of Tim Lane, whose complex and twisted images instantly captured my attention. The images often portray an intense moment of struggle or movement drawing you in to the subject.
Coming from an outside perspective without the belief in divine punishment Tim shows us his vision of the stories he immerses himself in. 
Your work has developed into fine art from illustration, how are you finding the transition?
Well the transition happened a while ago- almost as soon as I left Falmouth College of Arts in 2004, I did an illustration degree and really enjoyed it- but was always the more ‘fine-arty,’ end of it… glad I did illustration though instead of fine arts as the course really respected and put great emphasis on traditional drawing skills; an element which is lamentably missing from most ‘fine art’ courses these days… So I do illustrative work and sell it in galleries, which means I can do the image I want without being art directed! However, the transition is not fixed or one way as an original artwork of mine entitled ‘Faustus’ is going to be emblazoned across an American surreal horror novel called ‘First Aid Medicine’ by Nicholaus Partnaude, (published March 2012 by Emergency Press in New York) so the illustration/fine art circle is complete!
Given the great creative freedom that comes with painting are we to expect more surreal concepts from you any time soon?
I’m certainly not going to start doing pet portraits instead… ha ha… no definitely, I’m working on some paintings/drawings for Antlers Winter Shop in Bristol at the moment and also collaborating on an illustrated book with the author mentioned above, loosely based on Dante’s Inferno… so a good excuse to create some dark, surreal stuff… and back to illustration on my own terms which is great… 
What were your main inspirations when coming up with the illustrations for the revelations series?
This series further explored an interest in themes from classical mythology and classic literature also the existence or non-existence of salvation after death and the afterlife and the destructive forces of human hubris and the corruption of power. The title of this series plays on the biblical reference to The Book of Revelations by St Antony with its amazing, epic, apocalyptic visions and dark moralising tone and punishments and also on the realisations of human weaknesses shown in the unfolding stories of corruption of figures of power in our society.
Do you believe in divine judgement of sorts?
No not at all, I’m not religious, but I am interested in theology and in the need for people to believe in gods of all kinds and to pass responsibility over to something bigger than themselves- but I certainly don’t believe in divine retribution at all- that seems to me a very human invention… I find the epic images and the quality of ideas in religiously inspired texts as well as the endless possibilities of what the afterlife could be, all very inspiring…
What is your favourite myth?
I love myths of all cultures, as they are people trying to understand the world in terms of what they know… before scientific investigation and proof… Greek/Egyptian/Russian/Eastern European ones are particularly good for me- dark and gory and surreal but with amazing insight into the human condition… I was recently amazed by an Native American Indian Creation myth that talked about this subterranean cave full of all sorts of early animals fighting and scrambling around in the dark all on top of each other desperately trying to reach the top where a small hole allowed them out onto the earth in to the light- Man was the first out, of course- followed by all other animals you see around today- but the other unsuccessful, weak ones; who didn’t make it out died and we still find them in the ground now. (as fossils) don’t you reckon this sounds amazingly like Darwinian Theory…
Talk to us about your work process, what are the stages you go through in your creation?
Well, I read a lot and often an image comes to me after reading or listening to music- then I start drawing or painting and organically after many abortive attempts of rubbing out and painting over the final image is arrived at…
Anatomy of Desire is such a strong image, what’s the idea behind it?
Cheers, i don’t want to over explain it to death as it should try and mean whatever it means to different viewers- but it is basically an ‘anatomizing of the complex feelings of ‘Desire’. The Venus Fly Traps for example show the dualistic nature of desire; the femme fatale, or fatal attraction the heady mixture of excitement and fear and the landscape of bodies show the estrangement as well as intimacy of humanity. In to this flux glides a personification of ‘Surrender’ with a white flag…and entreats the troubled, gorging heart to give in to love… 
If you could be inside the world of one of your illustrations or paintings, which would it be?
I’m not sure I’d want to be inside one of my pictures as the dark reality of some of them might be too much- maybe I’d like to be one of the party goes from the Bacchanalia Series of paintings- maybe the boy dressed as a crocodile as i like parties and the transformative effect of fancy dress… also the croc-boy has a tail and a friend of mine called Tinks always says: ‘the wearing of a tail increases mischief tenfold’…