ARTIST Statement

My artistic practice centres around exploring my relationship with objects. As someone born in the age of the internet, my perception of the world is shaped by its influence. When visiting my family in the Scottish Highlands I came across some driftwood monuments. My initial instinct was to take a photo, to capture the atmosphere and hold it in my hand. However, the resulting image felt small and static, lacking the depth and nuance of the actual object. This led me to question my relationship with the monument and stirred me to explore it further through painting and drawing.

My work is deeply rooted in my personal history and upbringing, which has been heavily influenced by technology and the rapid pace of modern life. In many ways, my use of traditional materials and techniques is a response to this, a way of slowing down and trying to truly see. I make and use my own thickened version of traditional ground in my paintings. The process of creating each piece is an intimate one, I carefully prepare the ground and build up layers to create an undulating surface which mimics the driftwood. The textured surface of the ground is a crucial element in my work, allowing me to explore painting in the expanded field and create a sense of depth and movement within each piece.

As I continued to work with the driftwood, it gradually transformed into something that was both truthful and false, a representation that captured my relationship with the object while also corrupting it in some way.