The Orange Tree Painting

My art practice is rooted in painting, both studio based with archival properties and temporary in the great outdoors recorded photographically. The paintings, installations and artists books that I make are generated from life experience and particular locations, forming an external narrative that supports further research and works. Curiosity regarding how we interact with each other and the world, with an emphasis on double edges (violence, peace, greed, oneness) underpins my practice and has led to studies in trauma therapy, eco design, martial arts and rock climbing. These in turn fuel time spent in diverse urban and rural environments, which further inform my line of enquiry. During the making process I explore memory formation, using act of painting to embed felt and transient experiences, whilst experimenting with how concepts and observations can be conveyed. I attempt to portray environmental and psychological phenomenon in my artwork, such as a hurricane forming from the ocean edge, brocken spectre on a mountaintop, a fleeting sense of oneness in the city, acceptance stirred by the desert sky or a city park at dusk. Recalling the feeling of the elements when painting landscapes, to help capture and communicate something of the essence of these moments, can be replenishing and a form of action research. Painting with traditional materials has also proven valuable for processing and thinking through adversity, both on a personal level and for some of the communities that I have worked with. My paintings and photographs of temporary works bear witness to existence, akin to the function of a postcard or personal photo album; the format of which have changed dramatically with the growing role of digital media over the last two decades. Positioning my artwork across the spheres of photography, psychology and environment is not only theoretical but the work is often site specific for political and practical reasons. My temporary paintings have been made in quarries / landfill sites, parks, with Ibizan goats, Surrey sheep, the ocean, underpasses and an overpass, a farmer and a fire brigade. In recent years librarians have helped to share my studio based paintings and hand bound books.