I work from observation and my primary muse is the still life. Flowers in advanced states of structural decay held in antique vases provide a space that holds me. My work asks the viewer to re-consider decay as a site of beauty and in a subtle way questions the throw-away ethic of contemporary society. I am interested in processes of deterioration and impermanence in ways that echo the work of conceptual artist Anicka Yi https://www.instagram.com/anickayi_studio/ . In terms of the practice of painting I am interested in mark making on the surface of the canvas and think James Elkins (2000) is spot on when he describes painting as an alchemy born of the physicality of the movement of the painters body, like a dance, or struggle for meaning during the process of observation.
The painters I admire and have influenced my work include Bonnard, who approached painting as a process of metamorphosis / transformation where nothing but the paint has any semblance of reality. I also admire the work of Matise, Lucy Harwood, Peter Doig, Cecily Brown and Simon Carter.
