Artist Statement

My work explores the intricacies of the human body. The human form is in a constant state of transformation. The balance of nature and technology, in relationship to the body, has altered. My paintings focus on pushing the body to its limits, forcing its boundaries. I often use the concept of the hybrid or crossbreed to explore this.

I draw inspiration from ancient mythologies and religious stories. I have grown up surrounded by classical music, opera and the theatre. This has shaped my style and imagination hugely.

High emotion and dramatic energy run though my work, and the way it is created. I work fast, with free, expressive gestures. Working wet on wet, I control the flow of paint and allow it to drip, smudge, blur and bleed freely. Using a variety of mediums such as acrylic or oil paint, pastel and charcoal, I layer up textures and colour. I emphasize the use of line, leaving some areas vague and abstract and detailing others.

The series ‘To Give Birth is a Fearsome Thing’ aims to exaggerate the heroism and endurance women manifest through the act of giving birth. Incorporating animal body parts into the women’s bodies, I intend to suggest the wild and manic state which takes over their whole being, with the sole objective of forcing out the baby.

More recently, I have been developing a series of paintings and drawings – Cyborgs and Hybrids – which disrupt the female body image, creating my own abstract, hybrid creatures. These bodies develop in their own imaginative spaces, almost floating into being. In both my painting and drawing, the bodies seem incomplete; the emphasis is on the fluid outline of each figure. Once started, each work evolves rapidly, capturing a tension of trapped potential energy between the body and the viewer. Size and multitude of these bodies are important; amassing a population of mutated bodies. Through these works I am questioning: How far should humans meddle with nature’s processes?