Body of Work
2019 show
Tourist
acrylic on canvas
I was considering the point before we get born when we're trusting utterly and suspended in space. I thought we're all tourists really, travelling through and the fact of that is utterly beautiful. I was thinking of the elements of fire and water so I put in some fire opal streaks either side.
This painting is now in a private collection.
Fruit Tree
acrylic on canvas
The painting of this foetus was a marvellous process, I became enchanted by the subject and by the way it looked like part of a fruit tree. I am interested in who we are before our parents were born, how we start & the issue of trusting.
Flag
acrylic on canvas
I was thinking about the total surrender of getting born and about how we have to surrender to life and to the universe ultimately.
Rattle
acrylic on canvas
I was thinking of the body as a bunch of components whirling round in space with no central persona, no I attached to them and the painting came out looking like a Shaman's rattle. Shamans often undergo a kind of bodily dislocation or even dismemberment as part of initiation. I wonder about who we really are.
Game
acrylic on canvas
I was looking at the hand as an intricate device and I got reminded of the workings of pinball machine. I started to see the body as a complex game. The bubbles and pearls around the edge signify the beauty and transience of it all.
Map
acrylic on canvas
This is about emotions passing through the mind and body like weather fronts. This is a partial view of the painting which contains bodily elements like a brain and blood platelet and also the elements of air, fire , earth and water. The small ghost top left appeared during the process and I think it represents fears that arise.
Poetry and Music Heal the Brain
acrylic on canvas
Studies appear to show that music and poetry have a beneficial effect on the brain and that various parts of the brain light up in response. As someone who is not neurtypical I am well aware of the healing effects of both art forms and they are incredibly important to me. I used superimposed images of various brain types to create this image and make a whole. I am particularly interested in how traumatic events physically change the brain and how and if that can be repaired. Poetry and music are certainly part of the medicine.
This painting is now in the collection of Kate Brown.
Mt. Fuji Hat
mixed media on canvas
This piece is about a moment of realisation when the whole structure of I falls apart.
Everyday reality as represented by the queueing commuters top right just fails to hold.
MAMA
acrylic on canvas
I was painting a piece of space when it started to look like there was a person there falling into birth. Then I thought well we're all born from the universe so I put the Yoni symbol in the middle. And I guess we'll go back to her.