Artists Statement

As a BA Fine Art student, I am currently in the process of exploring both my preferred subject and technique. Among my personal inspirations lie the figurative artworks of the 18th and 19th centuries; Romanticism, Pre-Raphaelitism and their underlying connective themes of naked beauty and the enjoyment of physical touch, which also feature heavily in my own work. I try to capture the attitude and energy of my subjects through depiction of their physical forms, rendering my images neither wholly realist nor fantastical in content.

My ideas arrive half-formed, already partly visualised, from imagination, stories and my own experiences of the past. Figure studies and sketchbook observations add detail and richness of depth to the bare concepts. The final works are a combination of the two methods; whether drawn from the model or collaged from memory and sketch, they actively develop on the canvas as I paint, draw and scratch my inspiration into the surface. Evident in my finished work are aspects of a malleable process in which objects are repositioned and surfaces are stirred palpably with the brush, knife or hand.

Although I work with many differing materials, graphite remains my preferred medium. I find in the pencil a liberating delicacy of touch and line, soft tonal shading and deliberacy of shape. On a small scale, pencil work can equally produce a strong contrast or a life study of precious fragility, and it is this versatility that I use within my illustrative work. Larger coloured pieces are given over to pastel and fluidly performed with a tactile blending of coloured layers almost resembling painting. Likewise, my paintings include drawn elements within their natural course of growth, and often contain traces of pencil or pastel beneath their surface. I work and rework my paintings in an ongoing struggle to capture the truth of what I see and feel.