Artist Statement:
I find myself continuing to work more and more outside, finding inspiration exploring places that are on the edge of changing environments. The experience, both psychological and emotive, refers to the sense of place and the experience of immersing myself in landscapes that are pre-selected. The exploration includes topographical elements, textural surface, materiality and weathering, combined with a process-led practice of placing and leaving canvases in the river. This practice enables me to engage with tidal flow, movement of sediment on the river floor, that impacts and changes the canvases over time and the past connection having previously lived on a houseboat in mudflat areas.
I have a curiosity with ‘edgeland’ areas or the overlap where natural wild spaces, untouched by man, meet the more contained and managed areas. Also, the spaces and edges where land and sea or rivers meet, the wasteland and transitional spaces created between rural and urban areas. These spaces often neglected, liminal areas become areas of fascination and a rich source of inspiration. I work with the materials in the landscape E.g. mud and vegetation combined with the application of pigments on raw canvas, submerging the canvases in tidal and non-tidal rivers to absorb and directly respond to the essence, atmosphere and materiality of place. Paintings develop from these distressed canvases, exploring the fluidity and the ebb and flow of tidal changes.
Photography is also key to my practice being more conceptual with collecting information of place, spatial considerations, visual perceptions and reflective sentiments.
Awards & Distinctions:
Residencies and awards:-
2017/2018 & 2019 - Residency at Cyprus College of Art, Lemba, Paphos
2011 - The Blue House Residency, Gokarna, Karnataka, South India
2007/2008 -Sanskriti Foundation Residency, New Delhi, India
Funded by Arts Council England Awards to Artists.
Self-initiated project to produce a body of artwork as a response to street life in Delhi and working with women in micro-textile industries finalising with exhibition in India, April 2008. Also organising workshops with 'HOPE' project for children.
Finalising with exhibitions at the British High Commissioner's Residence, New Delhi, India.
2006/2007 - Great Dixter House and Gardens Residency, Northiam, East Sussex
Evolving project studying and recording the colours of the flamboyant and exuberant planting schemes and exhibiting in The Benenden Hall, August 2008.
2005/2006 - Sanskriti Foundation Residency, New Delhi, India
Creative research project in India exploring Indian culture, materials, textiles, pattern and colour. Organised workshops with 'Mobile Creche' organisation.
Exhibitions:
Selected Group Exhibitions:-
2025 Raft Studios, Coastal Currents Open Studios, St Leonards on Sea
2025 En Plein Air Exhibition, Rye Art Gallery, Rye, East Sussex
2025 Rye Society of Arts Summer Exhibition, Rye, East Sussex
2025 Shift & Drift Exhibition, Sun Pier House, Chatham, Kent
2025 Stories from Deep Time Exhibition, SoCo Artists, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery
2024 The Garden Room, Coastal Currents Open Studios
2024 Brighton Art Fair, Brighton Dome, Corn Exchange
2024 En Plein Air Exhibition, Rye Art Gallery, Rye
2024 Untitled Art Fair, Chelsea Town Hall, London
2023 Vitrine Showcase Exhibition, Grand Parade, Brighton
2023 MA Fine Art Final Exhibition, University of Brighton, Grand Parade, Brighton
2023 The New Masters, Bermondsey Project Space, London
2023 Edges & Elements Exhibition, Hastings Arts Forum, St Leonards on Sea
2023 Raft Studios, Coastal Currents Open Studios, St Leonards on Sea
2022 SoCo Open Exhibition, Hastings Arts Forum, St Leonards on Sea
2022 'Untethered’, Edward Street Gallery, Brighton
2022 MA Interim Exhibition, Grand Parade, Brighton
2021/22 The Garden Room, Coastal Currents, Hastings
2021 SoCo 'Small Picture Show', Hastings Arts Forum, St Leonards on Sea
2019 The Garden Room, Coastal Currents, Hastings
2019 RX19 Exhibition, SoCo Arts, The Stade, Hastings
2019 The Control Tower Gallery, Kingshill, West Malling
2018 Tutti Frutti, HAF, Hastings
2018 Harmonious Life & Nature, Sheraton Hotel, New Delhi
2017/18 Miscellany 3 & 4, SoCo Artists, HAF, Hastings
2017 For the Love of Lempa, Cyprus School of Art, Lempa, Paphos
2017 Rye Society of Arts Summer Exhibition, Rye
2016 Mitsui Sumitomo, Lloyd’s London
2016 RSM, Gatwick, Crawley (June Frickleton Arts)
2015/16 Coastal Currents, St Leonards on Sea & OB Hastings
2015 Bohemia Club, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex
2015 AAF, Francis Iles Gallery, Battersea
2014 Arusha Gallery Spring Show, Edinburgh
2014 Manchester Art Fair, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh
Selected Solo Exhibitions:-
2017 Shell & Shingle Exhibition, Studio 4 Frames, St Leonards-on-Sea
2016 Earthly Delights, Hastings Arts Forum, St Leonards on Sea
2015 Hotel Bollaert, Lens, France (sponsored by Recreate & Medway Council)
2015 Cafe Moroc, Rochester, Kent
2013 'Reflective Moments', Elixir gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, London
2011 'Seaflowers Exhibition', Rochester, Kent. Sponsored by Medway Council & Arts Council England
2008 Indian Pink', Nucleus Gallery, New Art Centre, Chatham, Kent. Funded by Arts Council England
2009 ‘In the Pink’, Elixir Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich
2008 ‘Indian Pink’, Nucleus Gallery, Chatham, Kent. Funded by Arts Council England Awards to Artists.
2008 ‘Blooms & Plumes’, Great Dixter House & Gardens, Northiam, East Sussex
2008 ‘Indian Pink’, British High Commissioners’ Residence, New Delhi, India
Funded by Arts Council England Awards to Artists.
Also produced two large planting plans for the residence garden.
2007 ‘A Year of Photography at Great Dixter’, Princess Royal University Hospital, Bromley
2007 ‘Indian Summer’, Jenny Granger Gallery, Whitstable, Kent
