My work explores an intuitive response to linear, textural and light detail within landscape and surface. Abstract compositions evolve through the tactile and contemplative process of drawing with paper cloth and thread. Mark making is an intrinsic part of my practice: shadowed, scratched, stained, scarred, pierced, wrapped and stitched…
My relationship with making is visceral… I ‘feel’ where the work emanates from, and is leading, as much as I ‘see’ it. The materiality of cloth, paper, thread, wood and paint connects me to an innate human urge to make marks… to decipher the meaning of our physical and emotional landscapes, and the transient nature of the warp and weft of our lives. The slow tactile intimacy of stitching is a mantra.
“Wall works, sculptural pieces and installations include works on slate, burned and weathered wood grounds and vessel forms. The work has a raw and simple materiality, grounded in resonant and sensory experience of place.Layers of detail are revealed or hidden as light and shadow pass across and through surfaces, echoing the transience of emotional and physical landscape. Abstract compositions evolve through the tactile and contemplative process of drawing with paper, cloth and thread.
Some sculptural vessels emerge as simple bowls, others become more anthropomorphic and totemic in form, others as three dimensional drawings; where open interwoven and knotted forms hold a dialogue with both the fixed planes close by and the linear shadows they cast. Their making involves a series of ritual processes; wrapping, sculpting, binding, painting, knotting, suturing and burning. Their forms are determined by a fragile and tenuous combination of elements; breath, tension, balance and materiality.”
artist statement, 2016
I studied Printed and Woven Textiles at Manchester Metropolitan University and my current practice has its origins in stitched cloths. Though undoubtedly rooted in ‘embroidery’ and ‘patchwork’, I experiment with and refine processes in a search to describe the way elements have imprinted themselves in my mind.
Fragments of materials are brought together in a similar way to collage or assemblage, with tiny holding stitches to capture layers. I create gestural marks with threads, paint, charcoal, and other media, and printmaking, felting, papermaking and woven techniques may be involved.
I have always found ancient and humble textiles and primitive vessel forms particularly compelling; the raw and worn simplicity of the weaving, stitching, binding and repairing bear the patina of our human histories. I am drawn to materials which suggest a fragile balance; strength and legacy, yet susceptibility to wear and tear, permeating them with their own intrinsic tactile qualities.
Unique objects include framed, hanging and sculptural artworks and installations. Developments include works on slate and weathered wood grounds, printed and woven elements, and sculptural forms and vessels.