Selected Works
Primarily a painter, much of what I do has evolved out of my interest in historic maps and satellite photographs. This means that I may revisit a series of works over a number of years as research progresses. Layering, distortion and erasure have all come to play a key part in my practice, referencing the often fugitive nature of both memory and historic narrative.
Coming to an Arrangement
In this series, elements of my previous map-based paintings are still evident but I’m moving into a purer abstraction and developing my own visual language with a series of repetitive shapes, lines, circles and crosses. Most of the canvases are larger and the work is under painted in subdued hues to give a toned-down earthy appearance.
The Mapping of Memory
This series evolved out of sketches of field patterns found on historic maps of Dorset. I became interested in unusual shapes where hedges or fences had been diverted to avoid features such as springs or rocky outcrops. The final paintings contain motifs such as circles or crosses referring to the marks which people place on maps to mark points of interest. Pencil lines overwrite the paint, hinting at lost pathways. The finished pieces are constructed abstracts rather than accurate depictions of a place.
Whispering Straits
This series of paintings began life as schematic maps of the coastal landscape of the South West Peninsula based on satellite photographs and historic maps. The initial rough outlines were overpainted and scrubbed back as shapes were defined, buried and rediscovered in a layering process. The final abstract paintings retain visible traces of the evolution of forms beneath the surface while scribbled lines speak of fishing lines, tangled nets and detritus washed up along eroding shorelines.
Where the Mist Rises
Where the Mist Rises numbers one to six were initially conceived for exhibition at the Rotunda Gallery in Lyme Regis Museum in a collaboration with Lyme Bay Arts. This gallery houses just six panels in a circular formation, encompassing the viewer to give a close-up, intimate viewing experience. Once again, based on maps and satellite photographs of the coastal landscape of the South West, initial rough outlines were overpainted and scrubbed back as shapes were defined, buried and rediscovered in a layering process. Soft veils of paint overlay the work as reminders of the sea frets which frequently mask the Dorset coastline. I am currently developing this work into a larger series of paintings.
