STATEMENT

 

My work is paper dolls with deep personal issues. My subjects range from the toxic legacy of child abuse, commentary on the dichotomies of self women have historically faced, to the utter joy of language and how ideas become not only words but also pictures. I use humble materials- illustration board, acrylic paint, buttons, wire to acheive elegant and sophisticated effects. I manipulate the forms and employ pattern, rich color and gesture to explore myths of deep-time and current self. The figures stand proud of the backgrounds to achieve a flat/3D effect- turning the frame into a proscenium. Each piece a small theatre for private dramas but wry humor also plays its part.

The female figure is my usual vehicle for expression. The figures themselves are inwardly-focussed though their gaze may be disconcertingly direct. Often they chafe at the constraints of mode but who does not also wish for the rustle of silk in their life? My work has been favorably compared to that of Joseph Cornell but in fact has been more influenced by the animation work of Jan Svankmajer, and the luscious patterns, textures and graphic forms of Eyvind Earle.