"Grease Monkey" Painting

I was born in London and continue to work there. My work has its origins in the graffiti I loved as a child and undertook in my teenage years. As I got older I became interested in expressionist painting and later still by the folk art of both Ireland and Poland, the birthplaces of my grandparents. My work incorporates the ornate characteristics of folk art with the boldness and immediacy of graffiti and the raw emotion of expressionism. Portraits and the human figure are my main preoccupation. The recurring themes of my work are displacement, oppression, alienation, adversity, community, empowerment and individuality. My torn paintings are my signature style. I use found and reclaimed wood as my canvas. I paint on several layers of paper pasted on top of one another. Once dry I tear and cut the paper to reveal an artwork that is a composite of several images.