Biografia
The female body, and how it has been depicted in society and through art has always fascinated me and has been a central theme in my work. Via humor, accident and control I explore love, desire and sexuality in women; who may be archetypal, fictitious or known to and posed by myself.
I paint and draw from memory, imagination and images, which I manipulate in an extreme manner, in order to over beautify or dramatize female forms and create characters that are dark, strange and sinister. I choose to take my subjects out of the context of a space and use bright, vibrant colours and fluid marks to create fantastical and sensual scenarios. An element of dark humor is increasingly present in my work; this is predominantly achieved through my models playing with various objects, such as guns, magic wands and shower hoses, which are depicted in my paintings and adopt phallic references.
My inspiration stems predominantly from a love of fairytales and an enthusiasm for cinema, influenced by Oscar Wilde, Brothers Grimm and Tim Burton. I enjoy story telling and narratives and like my pieces to be frozen moments of tragic tales, this I believe is apparent in the titles of my paintings.
Other figurative artists who have had a profound influence on my work include Marlene Dumas, Nobuyoshi Araki, Chantal Joffe, Egon Shielle and Nicola Green.
