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On becoming a new parent my work has taken a dramatic shift. I made a decision to include this shift, struggle, change and challenge IN my work, as this is now my life. I am exploring themes of truth. The truth about painting. The truth about surface. The truth about making and the process that evolves around that. Mistakes are made and left on view. The rawness of the material is just as active as the paint floating or sinking on/into or around the surface. I am interested in the humour, the realness, the messiness, the colour, the brightness, the bold, the joy, the sadness, the loneliness, and the danger of parenthood……or do I mean the process of creating. Can they exist together.
For me the expanding of a surface is extremely important…. ‘painting outside the lines’ per say. Are they sculptures or paintings? I am intrigued with the notion of play, playing with clay, glass, paint, mud, hay, DYI material, etc. Most, if not all the materials used reference autobiographically. Colour is the focus point of my work, understanding how these combinations melt together or scream in separation. Creating space and openness in the work lets each object be itself. In this way, I am examining how a thought process can be realised in form and paint.
In the ‘Transparency’ series, which are paintings made on transparent silk fabric; I repurpose prior paintings to create the wooden support system or frame for the new work. The silk is transparent and allows the wooden support to be seen. As a result, you are able to see marks left from pre-existing paintings. These remnants are probably the most important part of the painting. The marks are memories of a pre-existing painting and its relevance to the process of creation. As humans we all carry with us parts of our past; bumps, bruises and scars. Letting these be seen can create a sense of vulnerability and transparency.
Color and pattern also play a significant role in both my paintings and paper works. The relationship between color and the feelings that certain colors and color combinations evoke is always at the forefront of my work. Swaths of metallic oil paint are playfully juxtaposed with garish neons and laden atop the canvas or surface in purposeful heaps, resulting in a sort of contemporary trompe l’oeil. The patterns I use are often taken from autobiographical references as well. They have an importance to the act of looking. Re-looking, to be exact. A painting made from a visual reference, then documented. From the documented image I then make a textile/canvas out of it, to then be used to paint on again. The process calls into question the relationship between viewing a painting and viewing a copy. I am interested in how different mediums work with the same image and also the continuous reproduction of works like this in the infinite. A visual language stretching beyond the confines of the medium.
As Philip Guston once said, “When you start working, everybody is in your studio- the past, your friends, enemies, the art world, and above all, your own ideas- all are there. But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone. Then if you are lucky, even you leave.” Guston said, “Such passages of time are the precious pleasures of making paintings.” I couldn’t agree more. The very act of making is the fundamental basis of where my paintings begin.
Originally from the USA, I studied Painting at San Francisco Art Institute (1996–2000) and Studio Arts Centre International, Florence (2006–07). I then went on to receive my MFA in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London (2008–10). Lastly, I was enrolled in The Turps Off-Site Studio Art Program in London (2021-2023).
Recent and Upcoming Exhibitions, editorials and Artist in Residencies include:
MELT, Hypha Studios x Creative Land Trust, Frieze London, U.K. (2023);
Playground Twist, Bermondsey Project Space, London, U.K. (2023);
Free Art School E20, Hypha Studios East, London, U.K. (2023);
Blink, Safehouse 1, London, U.K. (2023);
ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, U.K. (2023);
RAW, Atrium Space Barbican Arts Group Trust, London, U.K. (2023):
A Little Closer, Aleph Contemporary, The Bindery, London, U.K. (2023);
The Goddesses (A Love Explosion), Terrace Gallery, London, U.K. (2023);
Turps Off-Site, Thames-Side Gallery, London, U.K. (2023);
Awkward Magnificance, Space HQ, London, U.K. (2023);
The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, U.K.(2022);
Contemporary British Painting Prize, U.K. (2022);
Telling Tales, Lea Bridge Library, London, U.K. (2022);
An Art on a Postcard Auction, U.K. (2022);
We are all the same age at different times, Fitzrovia Gallery, London, U.K. (2022);
Open Studio, Cell Space Studios, London, U.K.(2022);
One Way Gallery, Rhode Island, U.S.A.(2022);
Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Gallery, Kent, U.K. (2020);
The Other Art Fair, Brookyln, NY (2020);
Trelex Artist in Residence. Geneva, Switzerland (2019);
British Vogue Artist Gallery (October, November and December 2019);
New Beginnings, Porthminster Gallery, St.Ives (2019);
Inside the Studio, Saatchi Art, (2019);
Artist of the Day, Saatchi Art, (2019);
The Other Art Fair, Los Angeles, (2018);
Colore, SACI Gallery, Florence, Italy (2018);
The Other Art Fair, London (2017, 2016, 2015);
The Marmite Prize for Painting, London (2016 and 2012).
I have also been chosen and shortlisted for a number of awards including:
Contemporary British Painting Prize (long listed, London, U.K. (2022)
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London (2018, 2016 and 2013);
The SOLO Award, London (2018);
The Marmite Prize for Painting, London (2016 and 2012);
New Blood Art Featured Artist (2016);
Headlands Center for the Arts (2015);
Tomorrow & Today Featured Artist (2015);
Jerwood Painting Fellowship, shortlisted, London (2012).