Statement
Our thinking has always been virtual but technological innovations have made this fundamental condition more visible. The increased potential for exaggeration and manipulation has been seized upon, profoundly changing our perception, value systems and behaviours. Often, the virtual seems at odds with and preferred to, embodied experience and a desire for the perpetually new has become dominant. Surface image obscures material substance; immediacy overwhelms extended time; more is never enough.
But at the same time, profound changes and instabilities within our physical environments have firmly brought us down to earth, undermining the careless myths and assumed certainties that have supported the development of the way we live.
My work explores the dynamics between these two concerns. Rejecting the ideal space of pristine canvas, I paint on grounds constructed from discarded objects found in my local environments. Most of the objects are man-made but some ‘natural’ forms are included. Identifiable glimpses of some objects remain in the final work but collectively, the objects’ physical structures always contribute towards the painting’s emergent form and surface. Individual painted marks are records of single moments, decisions and actions but collectively they accumulate over time to become a metaphorical ‘flesh’ that reflects the fluid interdependence and tensions within our lived present.