Natural Fighter Painting

Artist Statement: I am primarily a painter, although I also explore ideas through printmaking and alternative photography (screenprinting and collagraphy and cyanotypes). In my painting practice I love the physical qualities of paint (particularly oil paint) and the myriad of textures, light effects, colour and illusions that you can achieve with them on a flat surface. So while my work represents objects in the real world, I strive to give the painted surfaces of my works an intensity and physical presence. I use photographic references (usually my own, sometimes found imagery) to construct imaginary places that could be real, but have a heightened sense of emotion and atmosphere. Influences include Peter Doig, Peter Blake, Caspar David Friedrich and Peter Howson. I am particularly interested in the idea of juxtaposition - such as setting artificial, man-made structures and elements against natural landscapes, so that objects seem out of place and "surreal". My current series of paintings and mixed-media cyanotypes reference promotional photographs of late 19th and early 20th century boxers, This "Fighters" series explores the juxtaposition of strong "masculinity" against "feminine" natural forms. I have exhibited my work in the Royal Cornwall Museum, Falmouth Art Gallery, Business Design Centre, Islington, Royal College of Art, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath and the Royal West of England Academy of Art.​ My work is in private collections in the UK and USA.