I am interested in shared mythologies, the cultural facts and fictions that we all have a stake in. My work creates new narratives by combining imagery and grouping work together to tell a ‘story’. Behind this shared narrative is a dark undercurrent of untold secrets. I am particularly interested in ideas of Englishness and much of my work features images of women. I have to have an emotional connection with my subject matter.
2 What do you intend your work to convey to an audience?
Recognition, nostalgia, unease, empathy, romance
3 Why do you work in your chosen medium and format?
Painting is the ultimate storytelling medium, it has a quality not found in other media which is derived from its history.
4 Technically speaking how do you go about constructing your work, that is the image or object itself? What devices do you employ?
I have a huge amount of research material that I refer to. Certain photographs capture my imagination and it is these that I use to paint from. I also collect images to use in collages.
5 Which period(s)/artists/specific works of art are you influenced by and how directly? How does this manifest in your work?
I admire Alex Katz, Karen Kiliminik, Elizabeth Peyton, John Currin, Joseph Cornell, Gainsborough, Diane Arbus, Marlene Dumas. I am particularly into imagery from the 1940s and 1950s
6 What stimulates/informs your work from the world around you?
Cultural icons and beauties from fashion, music, film, the royal family, politics, history – Kate Moss, Princess Margaret, Meg White etc. Striking images of notorious characters such as Mary Bell. Often these are people that I have a secret desire to be – there is a fantasy element in the work
7 What stimulates/informs your work from your own personal experience?
My own connection with the images that I choose to work with which can be empathy or admiration or dreamily wanting to be that person. It is important for me to feel a personal connection to my work which I then hope to convey to others.
8 From where do you derive your other visual source material (i.e. non art historical) and how do you implement this material within your work?
I collect images from magazines and newspaper and books, I use these as the basis for my work.
9 Where do you intend to take your work from here?
I want my work to convey a sense of ‘sehnsucht’ – this is a hard to describe condition which both consoles and tantalises and leaves you aching with longing for something you know but can’t place.
How I will examine this I don’t know until I start to work but I’d like to use elements of my own family history and then there is my current Amy Winehouse and pin-up girl obsession which may come into play!