Artist Statement
I take on the somewhat superior position of a 'conductor' when making these paintings. The canvas represents a 'stage' or a ground where various components can 'perform'. The work is concerned with the construction of an imaginary place or space. The elements are introduced one by one and orchestrated within the picture plane so that a narrative is built around them. Each painting offers a glimpse into an alternative reality that sits uncomfortably alongside our own. The work is very much concerned with movement, balance and gravity. The work also explores the idea of fragility. Not the fragility of a form but rather how a form can exist in a forced and delicate situation.
I have started to investigate and manipulate the idea of what a place or space is and what it consists of. I have toyed with combining aspects of recognisable interior and exterior spaces in one painting with the intention of creating a painting that is not easily identifiable as being a specific place and suggests a feeling of uncertainty.
The painterly places I present are unstable and often on the cusp of collapse or incomprehension. The components are held in a sort of no mans land between painted grounds or translucent brush marks that create a space for the objects to exist. Often a narrative is suggested but without conclusion or order.
The new series of work was partly inspired by reading 'Invisible Cities' by Italo Calvino. His 'cities' inspired me to make paintings that are caught between the imaginary and the real. I see the paintings as gaps in reality where the laws of logic and gravity can be defied in order to present an imagined world where anything is possible. I found one of Calvino's descriptions: '...points suspended in the void' an apt departure point for making new work.
CV & Education
Qualifications and training
2008 - Royal Academy of Arts Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2005 - BA (Hons) Fine Art (First Class), Bath School of Art and Design, Bath, Somerset
Solo exhibitions
2010 - Ringmaster, City Inn, London
2010 - Wonderland, Piero Passet, Fleet Street, London
Group exhibitions
2012 - Apophenia, China Shop Gallery, Oxford
2012 - Apophenia, Foodface Gallery, London
2011 - Fade Away(touring), Gallery North, Newcastle
2011 - On the Brink, SW1 Gallery, Victoria, London
2011 - Royal Academy Schools Auction, Sotherbys/Renaissance Hotel, London
2011 - Royal Academy summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2010 - Fade Away, Transition Gallery, London
2009 - New Paintings, IVI Investments, London
2008 - Interior: Looking through the Art, Martini Arte Internazionale, Turin, Italy
2008 - MA Graduate Show , The Atkinson Gallery, Somerset
2008 - Royal Academy Students Group Show, Dover Street Arts Club, London
2007 - Influx, Nolia's Gallery, Angel, London
2007 - 'Premiums': Interim MA Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2007 - Royal Academy Summer Show, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2006 - Fame is the Spur, La Viande Gallery, Hoxton, London
2005 - ArtSway Open Exhibition, ArtSway, Sway, New Forest, Hampshire
2005 - 'Free Range' Graduate Exhibition, The Truman Brewery, London
Degree shows
2008 - PgDip graduation show, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2005 - Degree Show, Bath School of Art and Design
Artist talks
2007 - Visiting Artist, Birmingham City University, Birmingham
2007 - Visiting Artist, Camberwell School of Art, London
Residencies
2011 - Artist in residence, Rosetta Art Centre, Canning Town
Corporate commissions
2008 - Corporate collection, Mizuho Bank, London
Competitions, prizes and awards
2010 - John Moores painting prize 2010(shortlisted), Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2009 - Jerwood Contemporary Painters 2009, (Shortlisted), London
2008 - John Moores 25 Painting competition(shortlisted), Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2007 - Travel Bursary, Royal Academy of Arts, New York
2006 - Harold Hyam Wingate Scholar, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2005 - Mercury Music Prize Art Competition Finalist Show, The Hospital, Covent Garden
Publications
2010 - About Painting, Transition Gallery
2008 - Interior: Looking Through the Art
