"Drain me ..... Sustain you”
This is a piece that I recently submitted to 'CALM x the other art fair' gallery. It was accepted for the exhibition which was to be shown in March 2020 but, unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has now been postponed and will be held in August 2020. The brief was the subject “Journey”. We had to pick an object that meant something and sparked a reaction inside of us. My object was an old wardrobe that my grandad had painted a picture on.
He died a couple of years ago after suffering from Parkinson's disease and Dementia. He had taught himself how to paint when he was 40 years old and would copy artists like Rembrandt. the later stages of his Parkinson’s took its toll on his body and he was sadly unable to produce the pictures that he wanted to.The painting on this wardrobe was one of the last things he was able to do. It was so sad to see the pain and upset not being able to paint like he used. My gran wanted me to dismantle the wardrobe after he died as it really upset her to see it. I decided to use the panels to create the artwork for the exhibition, as it meant so much to me to lose him.
I wanted this to be in memory of my grandad and it displays the emotion and the turmoil that has been my ‘Journey’ since his passing.The background writings are my thoughts at the time. I felt an incredible amount of grief, anxiety and depression and felt isolated from the world. I had this immense white noise in my head that didn't allow me to think straight at times. The phrase "Drain Me ..... Sustain you" is the battle we all have between our hearts and our thoughts and how we must find a balance between them to find peace.
I found doing this work a very cathartic process that allowed me to address many issues i have been feeling.
Painted using; acrylics & indian ink, on newspaper and wood from the wardrobe.
"i am sick & Tired of being Sick & Tired"
this artwork is based on research based on DR gabor Mate's work on Addictions and ADHD.
'Untitled'
Paint and ink on wood and newspaper.
"Free as a bird but feels Like Prison"
This is a lyric from Akala's track 'The edge' from his album 'it's not a rumour' I have always been inspired by his lyrical writing. I wanted to play with ideas of perspective and shadow in this piece depicting a dystopian streetscape.
Currently being exhibited with Perspective project.
"Optical Delusion"
This piece is in relation to the "Drain Me ...... Sustain you" artwork. I wanted to create something that represented how a mind can operate when you feel low. I wanted to portray how thoughts can seem locked and stuck and unable to be changed. I know it is possible to re-structure - it just takes time, effort and focus to do so. I am grateful to be able to be creative with my ideas and express myself though my art.
Currently being Exhibited with Perspective Project.
"trapped"
I wanted to create something that represents the confusion and pain that people sometimes feel when they are trapped in difficult circumstances. I deliberately made it very hard to make out the words and make sense of them in this piece. This forces the viewer to look very hard or double take before the can see what it is trying to tell them. I feel that it is very important for us to share our creativity with others and for each of us to be able to access a wider community with different ideas and different outlooks to our own.
We can all benefit from sharing and expressing our thoughts, however dark they can sometimes seem, with others so that we do not feel trapped within ourselves.
this skate deck were just concepts to go with Seek Interact dream. i wanted to play with certain elements that i like to draw and play with symmetry.
Another skate deck playing with ideas of optical illusions. this was also to go with seek interact dream.
pen and ink concept for optical illusion.
These are old college artworks. they were inspired by a crash i had in my car. i used fabrics and the parts of a car to create a distorted visual of the moments of a crash. i textured and coloured the different parts of the car to make them look as if they were moving or captured by a photograph. these were made in 2007.
This installation was made up of old pieces of a small bathroom, books, plaster and steel rods. I built this over 2 days. I like having a lot of texture in my work. this was inspired mainly as having recently found out i was dyslexic and my struggles with reading. It is how my mind felt when put in front of a book and i always felt like ability to learn through reading was utter crap, so to speak.
I was frustrated by my dyslexia as i enjoyed learning but have always struggled at the time but I have now learnt to live with it and use to the creativity I have from it to produce my work and look at life in different ways this was made in 2007.
This was another piece related to my dyslexia. 'crime and punishment' my grandad told to read as was one of his favourites. i couldn't get to grips with the language and became very frustrated with it so i pierced it with metal rods welded a large cage around the book. this was made in 2007
