I make work as a phenomenological response to time and place, combined with an element of climate activism storytelling, part hopeful restorative narrative. Marks can be immediate and intense or meditations on the rhythm of place and time, both long and short.

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Drawn marks are exploratory, intricate, strong, calm and meditative -  of the feminine and the land - of life, growth and time. The hidden and unnoticed: rhythms in a forest, of night holding inner landscapes: infinite, magical, tinged with the fear of loss. Connecting with the energy of place through running, swimming, exploring and through contemplation in the small slow noticed moments.

 

I draw, paint and create multi-disciplinary installations. Woven paint and pencil reflect the intricate and strong relationship between us and the rest of nature, in noticed moments of peace and response to energy found. There is an integrity of connection in my research and practise. I live and work on the West coast of Argyll – surrounded by islands, mountains, ancient forests and the marks of our ancestors.

 

Multi-disciplinary installations are moments of overt activism: Sea of Change 79, focused on rising sea levels and Carbon Legacy, a multi-disciplinary exhibition and installation currently at Kilmartin Museum looks at collective action and how this has changed our surroundings, our relationship with the land and the landscape we inhabit now. 

 

My practice is a phenomenological response to time and place. We hold and are held by the rest of nature; it is in this awareness of the power and beauty that my work responds to place but also highlights the fragile balance and destructiveness that we inflict on the rest of nature.

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Living on the coast in Argyll there are powerful currents below the surface of the waters, swirling between islands. Inland ancient prehistoric activity abounds, announcing we are here, and have been for such a long time – inhabiting this place, changing our surroundings, investing in place, connecting. I am interested in how our being is woven into the fabric of the land, and how we are held by the natural world. The more we engage physically, do we then become nurturing? Does involvement deepen our caring?

Trees inhabit some of the places I connect with, but not enough. They are our life support, lungs of our planet, harbingers of the seasons, time and spirit. 

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I have always admired the Canadian painter Emily Carr for her passionate love of nature and growth and her ability to communicate the energy all around us. My undergraduate dissertation focused on the work of Caspar David Friedrich and the conception of Romanticism. The relevancy of this becomes ever more apparent as the world wakes up to the climate crisis and our impact on the world around us.

Through my practice I hope to bear witness to what is slipping through our fingers, celebrating beauty and energy in our surroundings. I also wish to engage in the stories that need to be woven into our human consciousness to enable change.

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I am putting sustainability and carbon footprint at the heart of my work and have been researching materials and embarking on the transition to vegetal based materials for my paintings and a consciousness of material choice in my installations. 

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It feels important to reflect an awareness of time, to understand greater timescales than our brief human lifespans, to re-connect to what came before, what is now and how our actions will affect the future for more than a few generations.