ABOUT THE WORKStill navigating exactly what my work is about but I would say it’s mostly an expression of emotions and human sentiments. I enjoy painting faces or parts of bodies in a sort of realistic sense but with a feel for the surreal, dramatic or a hyper-sensory impression.
Whilst my style edges towards realism, I always try to avoid distinctive representation because really my work is about paint and its ability to transcend the material and rather to be manipulated to induce something else, a sort of fantasy, dreamlike glow. I like to incorporate commercial goods, food and popular culture, there’s so much to play with and to be said about the dualities of commodification and the body, authenticity and mass reproduction.
HOW IT BEGANI first started painting in year 12 – I wanted to draw for my major work but my teacher encouraged me to try painting. I imminently fell in love with oil paint – its density, its adhesive quality that can be so fluid, it is quite literally the most graceful medium (and the smell is hard to beat).
I stopped painting for about three years after school until I realised how much I missed it and then picked it back up – now just trying to constantly challenge myself with new angles of faces, hands, colours and lighting… just trying to grow personally without much actual teaching.
INSPIRATIONI am mostly inspired by what’s around me – the beauty found in expressions and personalities and everyday items and experiences. I draw a lot of inspiration from contemporary Artists such as Jenna Gribbon and Chloe Wise (my two favourites) but also from so much classical art – Renaissance, Romanticism, Impressionism. Some favourites would have to be Manet, Goya, and regrettably Gauguin.
Studying art history, you find yourself constantly bombarded by these great male artists, and I find myself seeking to discover more inspiration from artistic female figures – that also inspires me because traditionally art has been produced by men under the guise of the male genius, and every time I paint, I guess I’m sort of challenging that notion.
connection to the workIt’s definitely an emotional practice. I find myself getting frustrated, impatient and lazy at times (my inner perfectionist coming out). Painting people is inherently emotional because you are essentially trying to communicate a personality or a feeling, or sometimes more commonly I find myself painting how I feel about the subject instead.
audience engageant I don’t mind really what an audience gains from my work, I’m happy just making it and if someone gains some sort of responsive sensation from it then that’s always a benefit.
LOCATING HER WORKAt the moment just here, and sometimes a few works in progress shots on my Instagram. I think I’d enjoy more of a traditional mode of representation, perhaps because I work at an art gallery – there’s just something special about your work being hung amongst an animated and interested crowd. Whilst I strongly believe in self-promotion, especially in our digital age… it’s not really something I’ve considered just yet.
ASPIRATIONSI’m just always thinking about what I’ll paint next – how I can develop my style into something solid that I can continuously work from. Keep studying, working and enrich myself by art around me which will hopefully lead me to the next stage. Playing it by ear and hoping for something for the best essentially.
