the collective

My work is inspired by nature, observing the detail and the un-noticed, always in awe of our incredible planet that we have the privilege to be part of. There is a strong bond with place and connecting the past with the present.
My works include drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, installation video, and site specific works, these are supported by multi-disciplinary practice, one inspiring and influencing the other. I will use the most appropriate materials to create my works. The choice of material is important in my work as I believe that material is a language. For example, if working outside I would use were possible natural materials that would not impact on the environment. My background is in gardening and farming, so I have a close connection with the environment. It is not my intention to distract from the natural beauty but to bring attention to unnoticed by placing my works outside having an empathy to where they are placed.
My goals are to give joy by communicating a dialogue with the viewer and artwork.

The video is a document of the art that took place. The inspiration and motivation came from lose and grief and finding away for Jeremy Brooke's life to be remembered and to continue to feel his presence even when he his no longer with us. The ritual of life, by making and giving away small pieces of art, to spread his legacy. By tending his garden I am remembering. I created the bee garden in 2014. He had a great passion for nature and the outdoors. While tidying up the garden and idea formed that I could bring a little bit of joy into people hearts and the small badges that I created could be taken home and painted by whoever wanted to pick them up. Within one week 400 clay fired badges had found new homes. People love to pick up and collect. #moving2remember www.gumbylegacy.com

'Gumbys Bee Bed.' Community Art.

Through my work I'm exploring vibrancy and transformations, how can non-living become living. I am treating artworks as their own beings/creatures and trying to find a way of communication with them or through them with the world. Or maybe it's not true, maybe when I talk through them, it's still the same me, but it helps to find a way of speaking truth. The truth about that boiling darkness of within. My thoughts are creatures that sneak in my ear and make living. They crawl, reach my fingertips and grow themselves.

I believe in learning through doing. Doing is experience, experience of life and what is possible. Not limited to my own life, I study the lives of many creatures, and the many lives they've lived before they were reborn. I work with animal remains and plant matter that I have collected in Falmouth and in Ireland. Through my work I hope to build a story in the viewers imagination to reflect the connection I feel between all living things.

My practice is multidisciplinary, primarily combining painting, drawing, moving image and text. My work critically evaluates the absurd nature of human existence, in regards to the chaotic uncontrollability of the everyday. My artwork playfully examines how humanity copes with the irrationality of the universe as well as what it means to live and why people use the coping mechanisms they choose: hobbies, relationships and routines in order to create personal meaning in their lives, all while also questioning what actually constitutes ‘meaning’. I tend to draw on personal investigations into my own struggles and nonsensical day to day, creating appearingly silly works that are confessional yet universal, to understand and combat the chaos of things.

'Florence Place"
oil on canvas
29 Jan 2021

'Pisshead Crossing, Falmouth"
oil on canvas
26 Jan 2021

My practice revolves around painting, particularly as a tool for intervention, as the electronic image drives the dominant narrative of our lives. Painting, even when fast, is slow, since it is tied to the human body. I often work with digital images, bringing them back into the material world, and to our innate physical slowness.

My work consists of an exploration of the separation and oneness that permeates all of existence; from nature through to human civilisation and the relationship between them as a fundamental acknowledgment of the interconnected state of existence as well as a challenge to the illusory state of isolation and individualism that is present both in the modern perception of nature and the ever increasingly inwardly focused state of western civilisation. I aspire to make work that places the viewer in an atmospheric state of separation from the self in order to foster a greater sense of genuine connectivity and empathy.

The constant flow of water is one of the blueprints of which I wish to grok. To understand myself, I look outwards to the foundations of the non-human natural world around me. Through ceremony, song, painting, words, and movement, I am reconnecting and grounding myself to the beauty and abundance of local places. Foraging natural materials allows me to honour the natural rhythms which inspire and empower me to see all land as sacred.

In this body of work, I have been looking at life as practice and with that, the concept of consciously living in a way that is aligned with my values and intentions. The largest part of my project has been building a tiny house using as many eco materials as possible, using reclaimed materials where appropriate. This has been a marrying of my desire to become more sustainable in my way of life and yearning to become more self sufficient and thus less dependant on the unsustainable capitalist structure under which we are currently living. The project has been very much about consciously learning processes that have a directly necessary impact on my life and my carbon footprint. It has also been a way of sharing genuine human experience and knowledge with other artists and craftspeople who have helped and taught me along my way so far.

I am mostly interested in my work in creating the general ambiance of a place or subject with minimal brushwork, as I feel the more transparently my process is laid out, the more impressive it is when a space can still be recognised in paint.
A principal feature of my work is a focus on themes of random chance and speed, and I’m always trying to find ways of being more bold with my mark making. I feel that the textural qualities of paint can be intrinsically pleasing, so I try not to interfere with its natural flow and surface too much, always remaining conscious in my practice of the danger of overworking my materials.

Under this same umbrella of work, I have knitted a jumper from the very beginning of washing and spinning sheeps wool and forged a tripod to cook dinner over the fire. The things I am making are very much stemming from the things I need and a requirement for minimalism within my life. This is almost certainly a kickback to a period of time where being present and thoughtful are so difficult due to an increased pressure for online communication and working. The way I am finding to navigate through such an uncertain time, is to build myself a nest in which to feel safe and harbour the skills that I need to feel self sustained, it is an almost primal urge to get back to a 'simpler time' in such an uncertain one.

Currently, my practice revolves around things that come to me in dreams. Exploring the bizarre imagery created within the subconscious mind, thinking about how these can translate into reality and the meanings/symbolism behind them. Paying attention to the recurring themes that appear, such as nature, daily life and routines, but with their surreal twists. Which I hope to depict and experiment with through vibrant paintings, as well as stop animations, and video work.