My work is rooted in an investigation into our relationship with where and how we live and the connections we make in both the physical and our virtual environments, using the material and intangible elements of the work as a simile for each space.
I am inspired by light, colour-relationships, geometry and architecture, and increasingly by science. Much of my work is built from recycled construction materials, holding pockets of physical colour and creating zones of reflected coloured light, mixing new colours in the ether. Many pieces start with drawing as a way of working out notions and relationships, these drawings, diagrams almost, develop form and become the initial ideas for structures akin to architect’s maquettes.
Hand applied pigment to surface is an ancient means of communication and remains central to my practice, I’m interested in the relationship between richly coloured, precisely drawn marks and fluid or printed marks that become dry and broken, however what I use as surface is changing. It has included canvas, both traditionally stretched, but more frequently used spatially, working from human-scaled examples to large viewer subsuming pieces, which work with and against the supporting architecture. A residency at Leith Hill Place (2017), however, provided the opportunity to take ideas to another dimension and create huge installations which engaged the public and bathed them in reflected or projected coloured light, playing with shadows and movement of time. For these 31 8×4’ sheets of ply were required, and this emphasised to me the importance of the engineering design to support this massive structure without drilling into the Grade II* listed property, I found this aspect a very satisfying part of the final outcome.
For the most recent project I have taken a fascination with the recurring dendriform fractals, the branching mechanism that forms the structure of trees, river systems, vascular and nervous systems et al, through the route of brush and ink drawings into laser-cut ply, learning how to manipulate images and operate this machine. The result is a sculpture that discusses our fragile planet. I have also created pieces entirely mathematically, but always including hand applied pigment, working with the relationship between hand-drawn and machine created. I’m excited to discover where this takes me next.