Artist's statement

In this current work, the expression is about a kind of dancing fluidity which is developed through a very intuitive, playful process. I spend time listening and responding to the images, becoming a flow with the piece as the images emerge. I find the more open and curious I become, the more harmonic and unexpected the expression becomes.

Layers are built up using a variety of papers: found, digital, mono-printed, stenciled and hand painted, some very translucent and others opaque, some with repeated patterns to bring unity. Marks and gestures are made with pencil, pen, charcoal, pastel, oil pastel and paints brushed or rubbed directly onto the collage surface. Many times components from earlier pieces are brought in; cut or ripped. There’s also the use of white as plain white paper or white paint to obscure or simplify or heighten certain areas.

There is for me a love of the written word in the sense of the flow of language as a poem rather than the details of a narrative. You’ll see that rarely can the words written be understood but instead there’s something about how language and image meet in a new expressive form. 

I have also been bringing in natural, almost recognizable elements: a reflection of the natural world. These may be a whale’s fin, the sensual movement of a serpent’s form, the movement of the sea, teeming with life. This dancing fluidity speaks to me of the wonder of creation, the power of life running through all our cells.