About
I am interested in the complexity and ambiguity of the human condition . My work is personal, based on the witnessing of daily life and on inner and outer reflection on themes including identity, connectedness and presence. My research engages with early medical and psychoanalytic theories as well as philosophies of wellness and thriving.
The figures I paint symbolise imagined parts of self as well as persons I have hallucinated. These characters exist in and navigate through a surreal world where identities combine and morph reflecting multiple threads of personal and collective memories, observations and possibilities in time.
Through the process of making I ask questions and seek understanding. This exploration functions for me much like the role of sleep and the processing and organising of information through dreams and nightmares.
I use simplified forms and the language of comics to express my ideas and stylistically move between traditional oil painting techniques and expressive painting and drawing to capture direct emotional responses. Framing in my work is used to encapsulate whole ideas as well as to suggest narrative progression, disruption and juxtaposition. Metaphorically these shifting presentations relate to the range of freedoms and restrictions I notice within myself.
