Biography |
At last, I’m studying for a B.A. in Fine Art. Having spent many years in graphic design companies, then running my own for ten years, I have finally found that deep down, I’m an artist with something serious and meaningful to say.
Before becoming a student again, I combined my interests in graphics, construction and sculpture, and for seven years produced ‘garden totems’. One off pieces, robust enough to live outside, but delicate enough to work with the kind of environment my clients enjoyed. Successful shows like RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court were my outlet and those who loved their gardens and art in equal measures were my clients, who all happened to be really lovely people too.
However, maturity, and the creative drive which fills me has pushed for a more conceptual and thoughtful way of approaching my work. I can draw. I can paint. I can make things. And, I have ideas about what I want to see. It is the combination of these, brought together by serious study, which forms the basis of my praxis.
So much of what I am interested in now has come from the work I’ve done up to this point, and there are lines of enquiry I still haven’t taken. I am beginning to believe that for a piece to really work, the timing has to be ‘right’, it’s not just a case of having the skill or concept, but when it’s made is so important. The pieces I’ve made so far were produced at the right time.
From this, I have started to think about the links between my pieces, and how the timeline of my work has developed.
In a covert way, human intervention is a significant part of my practice. Life drawings, ladders, a door, portraits, framed pieces, brooms and the book. These objects all need human participation in order to operate, otherwise they are ornaments. They are not complete or fulfilling their role or purpose unless we make it happen. As for my drawings and paintings, they all include a human suggestion or form.
This is more than simple appropriation; my work applies the humanisation and characteristics we sometimes provide to the objects themselves. Through a process of anthropomorphism I am looking at ways to inject a thought and sense filled psyche into them.
As I develop, so will my work.