artist printmaker
#relicsandreliquaries -certainty of power
Otherwise unremarkable objects, a nail, a splinter of wood or a square of linen are imbued with the power to heal and mend broken lives by faith and their sumptuous presentation. There is an irony between the mundanity of the object, a nail, and the gold, emeralds, pearls and rubies that surround it, suggesting the uncertainty of power.
I think I can use this ‘objective irony’ to good effect in an artwork.
#betweenworlds – ascending and descending
The geometry of stairs in all their fascinating varieties – sharp and steep leading down to a cellar or sweeping upwards to a grand hall – always provides a tantalising prelude to what is hidden from view. They are still, silent, inanimate, yet hold the possibility of suspense and surprise.
In my latest works I have added people to the scenes to see how they react to this intriguing environment.
#weatheredlandscape – elemental sculpture
Coastal regions where gales often lash the landscape have a character of their own, and one particular favourite is the Pas de Calais where the trees that have survived have bent to the prevailing winds. Trying to capture this landscape without taming it provides an intriguing challenge.
#sourceofabstraction – the boundary between
Natural Forms is part of a series of works inspired by nature. While they provide life-long sources of interest, these subjects ultimately form the basis of my abstract paintings which are both hard-edged and yet fluid in appearance. Natural Forms focuses on the boundary between flora and fauna, such as a fungus that resembles flesh, or a shell that takes on the appearance of a human ear.
#everchangingseasons – the continual cycle
Seasons is part of a series of works inspired by nature. While they provide life-long sources of interest, these subjects ultimately form the basis of my abstract paintings which are both hard-edged and yet fluid in appearance. Seasons looks closely at the continual cycle of birth, growth, maturity and death.
This is one of my very long-term projects which is far from being completed, as I have not yet understood sufficiently what it is about. I have completed over 100 drawings with an accompanying 10,000 word text.
#signsoffertility – source of abundance
Cycladic fertility figures are fascinatingly androgynous compared with the Venus of Willendorf and more familiar depictions of fertility by early artists, but they are no less appealing in form and they catch the attention of museum goers.
After fuelling my own fascination with drawings and models, I now want to bring them alive in a 3D animation to explore how they would move, speak, and what personality characteristics would suit their intriguing body shapes.
#whatliesatthecore – deeper understanding
To talk about man’s relationship with nature (the environment) is a good place to start understanding how we react with what surrounds us. We are as much a part of ‘nature’ as a bee gathering pollen or a frilled shark grazing on the ocean floor.
The four paintings in the East Dean Quartet explore themes of birth, discovery, power and fate.
