Artist Statement

My work takes an interrogative approach to materials, exploring their essence and invisible vitality. This discloses a broader philosophical context in which we live in an “interrelated” world of active materials, each responding and reacting to each other in an intricate web of belonging. I attempt to illuminate the alchemical beauty of the material world, and explore ways of representing it in an artistic form. My work is process driven, continuously changing and responding in step with these conceptual underpinnings. I use found objects as an inspiration for sculptural work to complement and extend the concept of an interrelated system re-interpreting and re-presenting these objects and materials to expose a new reflective narrative.

I observe the reaction and response of materials to each other and to their environment, committing to a form of artistic ‘alchemy’ letting the process drive the creation of the artwork, observing unexpected actions and reactions between materials. I trust this method of working exposes rather than dictates, allowing the materials their own narrative. Ideas emerge as I engage with materials, one against the other. The result could take the form of sculpture, painting, sound, video or word, or a combination of all. Situationists critiques of capitalism and disconnect from materials of production feature in my early thinking, and more recently materialism in the expanded theory of ‘new materialism’ and attention to non-human forces. I have encountered several artists who work in this way and it has substantially changed how I think about art, for instance the use of invisible materials such as sound and air.

Most recently I have evolved a deeper connection to the theoretical nature of my work. By working with copper, I have observed its alchemical nature and have been surprised by synchronistic discoveries which highlighted its properties as a mutable material.  I see my work now as more of an ongoing interaction with materials, and the flux and change of environment. Its expression could take many forms, including sculpture, photography, painting, sound and video and will continue to use materials as both a physical and metaphysical expression of lived experience.

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