About



Artist statement

My practice is concerned with notions of pretence, the real world and how these two things interact and challenge each other.  I use aspects of childhood experience as a platform to explore this. The scale and proportion of a child residing in an environment created for adults provokes imagination, tempting the real to mix with the illusory. Scale is used as a critical visual device in the work to manipulate the image and reinforce a play on reality.

Watching the “Wizard of Oz” as a child I remember accepting the painted scenery, the talking trees and flying monkeys, however watching the film as an adult it is impossible to view it in the same way. One cannot help to notice the sets and props and acknowledge that they are just that: fabrications. The knowledge and awareness we gain of reality soon distracts and labours our imagination. 

I create doll like images using collage, incorporating photographic imagery with coloured paper, building figure’s that embody emotion and experience. These dolls become models to develop new painted works.  The act of making the work this way retains a naïve playful quality, reminiscent of paper dolls and child made toys.