My work explores themes of power and identity repeated across generations in the familial, social and natural world. I have always searched for meaning and understanding of experience. Making sense of violence I survived in childhood and as a woman in 80’s Britain was motivational in my professional career as a psychotherapist working with survivors of trauma. The belief in the transformational power of relationship, narrative and witnessing is fundamental to my view of the world and my approach to art making.

As I reach the stage in my life where death is more consciously present, I am revisiting  the myths, stories and symbols of my  British, Scottish and Irish ancestors. These archetypal narratives seem particularly relevant to me as we experience continued gender violence, the consequences of conflict over land, belief and climate emergency. Through this lens I explore the emotional and felt sense of the experience of being human in our world today.

I convey the tension between our need for  safety, fulfilment and  with the experience of vulnerability, fear and disruption through primal and immediate mark making. Using oil, wax, graphite and charcoal, variation in scale, contrast of light and dark , control and chaos my paintings emerge through a process of layering, disrupting and repeating symbol, text line and form. Over time a surface rich in history develops, the colour palette inspired by the richness of the natural world.

I experience this process as a search for meaning, a discovery, a visual metaphor for the repeated patterns in our human and personal history. The process stops when I reach a felt sense that the painting and I have reached a point of resolution, it has been a relational process. I do not have an intention for how my work will be experienced, preferring that the viewer continue the process of meaning making.

Creating my art is a soulful, intuitive process. From initial impulse and inspiration from the world we live in, each painting is a conversation in a wider dialogue that emerges across a series of paintings. In a world of flat screens, a painting offers a deep and tactile experience. Original art is rewarding for years to come - do stay in touch for news of new works.