Artist Statement:
Paint is the material that stands at the core of my practice. Initially, it was simply the pleasure of applying paint to a surface that entranced me; years later, through study, it is a medium that I use to attempt to answer my questions and explore my interests. I find painting spaces fascinating; depicting physical space within the two-dimensional surface of a painting has always felt gratifying. In painting I can create a new sense of space, one that begins at the wall on which the painting sits, and continues through the bare surface of the canvas to the gloss of the varnish layer, and out into the room in which the viewer stands.
It often begins with an intuitive mark making, creating an image upon a surface. The use of photography, as well as collage and maquette making, allow the work to move through various stages in which I can eliminate, alter, and reinvent. In experiencing the works, the viewer becomes the lens, cropping and reframing, continually modifying their perception. This process of repetition, regurgitation, and recreation navigates the dual nature of the thing being painted and the painting itself. Through considered curation, the viewer’s route through the space is somewhat dictated, revealing and obscuring viewpoints to suggest new ways of perceiving the traditionally flat surface of a painting. Shapes, textures and layers from within the painted image extend into the space in the form of physical structures, acting as framing devices that provide insight into the process behind the works.
Bio:
1991, Northumberland, England 2011 – 2015 – First Class, BA Hons Fine Art, Newcastle University
Recent Selected Exhibitions:
Wingdings / Byker Gallery / Newcastle upon Tyne / Dec 2015 GRADI-(ient) / The Whistle Art Stop / Haltwhistle / Sept – Oct 2015Newcastle University Fine Art Degree Show / SCIN Gallery, Old Street, London, June 2015
Newcastle University Fine Art Degree Show / Newcastle upon Tyne / May – June 2015
Counterweight / System Gallery / Newcastle upon Tyne / 2015
Interim Exhibition / Newcastle University / Newcastle upon Tyne / 2014
Framed/Dis-Framed / Newcastle University / Newcastle upon Tyne / 2014
Without Lines / Globe Gallery / Newcastle upon Tyne / 2014
CorporART / Bamburgh House / Newcastle upon Tyne / 2013
Sour Grapes / AXO Gallery / Edinburgh / 2011
Domestic Bliss / Axolotl Gallery / Edinburgh / 2010
