Female Reclining Nude in a Forrest Painting

My Artist Statement Recent times have forced us all to re-evaluate our lives & priorities. Some of us have lost our loved ones; others our homes and careers. So when we feel overwhelmed by negative events in our lives we are told we are ‘traumatised,’ and must find a way to ‘recover’ and to become a ‘survivor.’ But how can we start to find a way back to a better version of ourselves? Our life events drive changes within us; every action having a reaction. If we look around we can see ‘trauma’ reflected back at us in nature. For example; from the melting of the ice caps in Antarctica to the devastation of the Forrest fires in Australia. And with these ‘events’, comes the death of animals and wildlife who are depending on these environments to survive. My work acknowledges the role of trauma, survivor and recovery narratives by accepting that love and loss, life and death, are all forms of ‘normal’ experiences that fill the passing of our lives. My paintings use colour to evoke emotional responses in the viewer. Others may also feature birth and/or death themes. In particular, my depiction of the female nude reminds us of our own mortality. Naked, is how we arrive, and depart this world. And so the cycle of life and death continues. My Artist Practice My central practice is life painting in which I have studied the human figure for over 30 years. I develop life studies into final paintings in my studio; changing the composition & adding context to explore a theme or particular idea in a painting. When I combine the figurative with the abstract within the same painting I will use colour washes to unify the compositional elements. Colour is my chosen means of emotional expression.