My background is in Art History - my compositions often referencing the balanced classical structures of historic painters such as Poussin, and my practice sitting within the tradition of figurative painting. However, many aspects of my practice diverge from the classical with its rational, order based principles. Instead, the body has become the site of perception and the vehicle for meaning. Distortions and exaggerations carry the  experience of a moment remembered, felt or imagined. I use perception through my own body - assuming the postures of my figures, feeling their weight and tensions - alongside knowledge built through observational drawing, to generate the imagery necessary for the narrative and message. 

I use colour intuitively, often in response to an embodied memory of ‘how it feels’. My compositions are created from interlocking colour shapes, and the formal rhythms that exists between them . 

While turning ideas into visual form through the drawing process, narratives often evolve around the initial sketches. I allow the narrative to develop further as I paint - my compositions and forms adjusting during their making. It is a constantly evolving process, nothing is fixed and I remain open to unexpected suggestions made by the paint or collaged pieces. I start with an idea but the process guides the result. The result is always intriguing to me - and it’s this ongoing fascination with exploring an idea, image and narrative in paint that drives my practice forward.