Statement
I am obsessed with faces and I have a fear of birds.
Faces show a person’s life, and can look different on a daily basis, a perfect canvas to convey different sides of your character. But more than this my fascination is with the colouration and fragility of skin. Whilst working my concern is more with the flesh then the actual likeness, but I want to equally portray the skin alongside a true representation of the sitter.
The fragmented faces allow the viewer to complete their own background stories to how they imagine that person. The starting point is a title, these play an important part not just for myself to feel a certain emotion whilst stitching but to also convey a sense of a story (sometimes abstractly) to the viewer. A belief in there being beauty in decay has lead me to being inspired by ripped layers of wallpaper or advertisement boards alongside small patches of peeled paint which feed the beginnings of a portrait.
I liken my stitching technique to drawing, with a repetition of marks and cross hatching different colours and types of threads. These processes and combinations of materials trace my thoughts and fixations of the thread/skin and lead to an ongoing exploration of abstraction.
Through my wildlife artwork I have experimented with materials to help convey and highlight environmental plights and wonders. Predominantly focused on British wildlife and in particular endangered species I want to celebrate moments that we may never notice, from territorial birds to the insects on your garden path, alongside my personal experiences with the natural world. Many of my images are incomplete to give ghostly, faded away glimpses of what was with flashes of the energy in the movement of birds. These artworks are also inspired by curiosity cabinet displays, my mother's Bee collection and plastic pollution.
I am striving to close the gap to what is deemed craft and what is art.
Based in Kent, I have been exhibiting internationally and throughout the UK in solo and group shows since 1998. My thread paintings have been included in the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize (2015, 2023), the Royal Academy Summer Show, Wells Art Contemporary, Guildford House Open, and I have been a contestant on Sky Art's Portrait Artist Of The Year in 2014. Winning the Behind The Artist Portrait Prize in 2023, 1st prize at the Her Canvas Art Exhibition (2025) and Best Small Work Award at the SGFA Exhibition (2026). I am a member of SAQA and the Society of Graphic Fine Art.
Faces show a person’s life, and can look different on a daily basis, a perfect canvas to convey different sides of your character. But more than this my fascination is with the colouration and fragility of skin. Whilst working my concern is more with the flesh then the actual likeness, but I want to equally portray the skin alongside a true representation of the sitter.
The fragmented faces allow the viewer to complete their own background stories to how they imagine that person. The starting point is a title, these play an important part not just for myself to feel a certain emotion whilst stitching but to also convey a sense of a story (sometimes abstractly) to the viewer. A belief in there being beauty in decay has lead me to being inspired by ripped layers of wallpaper or advertisement boards alongside small patches of peeled paint which feed the beginnings of a portrait.
I liken my stitching technique to drawing, with a repetition of marks and cross hatching different colours and types of threads. These processes and combinations of materials trace my thoughts and fixations of the thread/skin and lead to an ongoing exploration of abstraction.
Through my wildlife artwork I have experimented with materials to help convey and highlight environmental plights and wonders. Predominantly focused on British wildlife and in particular endangered species I want to celebrate moments that we may never notice, from territorial birds to the insects on your garden path, alongside my personal experiences with the natural world. Many of my images are incomplete to give ghostly, faded away glimpses of what was with flashes of the energy in the movement of birds. These artworks are also inspired by curiosity cabinet displays, my mother's Bee collection and plastic pollution.
I am striving to close the gap to what is deemed craft and what is art.
Based in Kent, I have been exhibiting internationally and throughout the UK in solo and group shows since 1998. My thread paintings have been included in the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize (2015, 2023), the Royal Academy Summer Show, Wells Art Contemporary, Guildford House Open, and I have been a contestant on Sky Art's Portrait Artist Of The Year in 2014. Winning the Behind The Artist Portrait Prize in 2023, 1st prize at the Her Canvas Art Exhibition (2025) and Best Small Work Award at the SGFA Exhibition (2026). I am a member of SAQA and the Society of Graphic Fine Art.
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