Portals Photograph - Limited Edition of 250

Trees are important to me and probably drove my work with newspaper for around 20 years until, in October 2018, I had a spinal injury and I could no longer walk. I went into lockdown way before most were aware of the phrase and so did my art practice, I lost confidence and direction and wasn’t sure how to reignite it. Mid way through the Covid19 lockdown that changed. I loved this lockdown. Cosy at home with my son not needing to try to fit in with the manic world that was on pause. Not needing to find a route via wheelchair for something resembling a new normality but not the new normal the world talked of. I began to make work again. Perhaps the pressure being taken off me was what created that spark. Whatever it was I am grateful. I am oil painting and creating digital collages and I am, once again, part of a community of artists. I am out of isolation. Eye level is different for everyone so perspectives aren’t ever the same. As a new wheelchair user my eye level has literally given me new horizons. Sometimes this is good, I’m not going to fall over so I look up more at the sky and trees. Sometimes, less desirable, in a crowded room or street I am often at groin or buttock level. I love the woods and nature. Trees fascinate me and I photograph them almost obsessively. Portals represents the barriers that prevent me and my wheelchair from accessing the wildest parts of nature but also shows the protection and safety I feel in a woodland environment. These strong tree forms veil and constrain the nature I am desperate to connect with and create their own surreal but distanced landscapes.