This is a review of my development over the years: presented as slide shows, I have selected some of my earliest works to show something of my roots; another shows some highlights of my more obviously "surreal" dream/nightmare works - "inscapes" - an ongoing thread in my oeuvre. I have also presented examples from various series, periods and groups of works that have marked certain points in my career; I still sometimes revisit earlier themes or bodies of work when I am struck by new ideas, so it is sometimes hard to pin my work down to a specific "period" in my development.
Beginnings
A selection of my earliest professional works, carrying a strong flavour of my original surrealist inspirations and influences - Magritte, Dali, Ernst et al.
Introverse
This is a series of personal works which gave expression to my feelings of depression, anxiety and frustration at the time.
Goddesses
In 1998 I spent four months in residence at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris. At the time I was exploring the ancient Mother Goddess mythologies, and was much influenced by the work of Ana Mendieta. In Paris I discovered the witty and acerbic stencil graffiti of Miss-Tic, which I quoted/incorporated in my paintings of this time (I credited her by including her tag).
Out to pasture In 2002 I discovered this image of a cow mooing in a French magazine - it inspired a series of playful works, in which I explored the power of the background to alter the character or mood of the subject (the cow).
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Dreaming in a different key
A stylistic thread that has run through my work since I first became an artist, an exploration of the psyche and the place of dreams and nightmares. I call them "inscapes". These are the paintings I identify with most closely of all my work.
The secret garden
I captured the moods of what was my mother's huge garden in the late 1990's in this series of pastel drawings. Sadly it has been destroyed by "progress"...
The meditator
While in residence for the second time at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris in 2002 I began experimenting with this series featuring the same dramatically lit figure. This particular figure appealed to me because of its androgynous nature, allowing for a more universally meaningful interpretation not contextualised by gender (the model's or the artist's).
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