My work varies in medium - drawing, painting, objects, video and installation - but is consistent in it's interest: an exploration of the fluid realm that is the unconscious.
To this end I use texture and found objects as means of attempting to bypass rational thought and immerse myself in (or be immersed by) a space that is elusive and intangible and yet as pertinent as the visible.
Play, chance and accident have a crucial role in this process, as does automatism. The thrill of the unpredictable is the matrix of this journey. There is an element of randomness in the nature of the execution of each medium and technique that allows an intuitive process to lead the way.
The narratives that surface and evolve form part of an unfolding personal mythology.
The work is informed by formative years in South Africa, African and Greek mythology and readings in prehistory.
EVENTS
WORK DURING THE TIME OF COVID 2020
When I knew that my exhibition at Farleys Gallery was going to be postponed, and that a pandemic was about to change our lives, I thought I'd make a 3D anti-Covid fetish piece based on the magnificent mummified Nile crocodile at the British Museum. As Museums were closed I had to rely on the internet for any research. At 12 feet it's the BM's largest mummy. A fabulous beast, it's covered in wax and resin that over time has turned black. And most extraordinary, it has 30 mummified hatchlings on it's back.
My croc was planned as something dark in colour, magical, mysterious and mythological. What emerged as the strange COVID times permeated every social aspect of our lives, was a crazy carnival creature that could be worn in a very active social celebratory dance or procession.
Work then returned to the area of ancient myth and prehistory that's a central interest of my practice.
Medium: fluid acrylics on canvas.
Portal II & III as well as Archeology of the Unconscious 1-6 includes an experimental combination of acrylic binder and PVA.
In Portal II & III, it lead to images of a cave-like space with undecipherable signs and symbols on the walls.
In the series Archeology of the Unconscious I created a texture reminiscent of fossils or the bones of mythological beasts embedded in the land. A reflection of the inner cartography of a longed for land mass in a state ancient innocence.
More 3D reactions to COVID 19
'oh I do like to be beside the seaside....'
Materials: found beach objects and concrete base
57 x 17.5 x 90cm
Silent Presence
Materials: found objects and concrete base
43 x 16 x 10cm
The Women's Art Library (WAL) App How to Make An Archive Travel? led by Dr Ana-Maria Herman is up and running.
It features seven women artists and artworks from the Women’s Art Library located in the Special Collections and Archives of Goldsmiths Library, University of London.
A special ‘participate’ feature in the App allows you to help bring more attention to the work of women artists (within and beyond the archive), as well as the Women’s Art Library itself, by making your own ‘WAL art slide’ which can be posted on various social media sites (links on the App).
Funding: Women’s Art Library, Goldsmiths’ Research Development Funds (CIG) and Goldsmiths’ Public Engagement Grants.
WAL App: https://appsto.re/gb/Fqn7gb.i
This App requires iOS 9.0 or later, and is compatible with iPhone (5s or later), iPad and iPod touch
For more information: howtomakeanarchivetravel.wordpress.com
Exhibition DETOUR: CYCLISTS DISMOUNT
Venue: Eugenio Granell Museum-Foundation, Santiago de Compostella, Spain.
6 April - 28 June 2016