Background to recent work

Working primarily on self portraiture, I am interested in the idea of a self portrait not being a photorealistic depiction of the face, but am concerned with a self portrait being a trace or mark of identity or revelation about the artist and how they represent the idea of the ‘self’.

Andy Warhol’s ideas and representation of himself has been highly influential to my practice. I’m very interested in his idea of a self portrait not being an honest depiction of the artist but a means for critical self analysis and reflection through a constructed and idealised representation of perfection. Warhol shows himself as he wishes to be seen, not as he sees himself, obliterating all blemishes and signs of ageing or imperfections. In creating a completely false construction of his image, Warhol admits his imperfections and in that reveals his true identity.

My studio work focuses largely on the use of a blind contour drawing method in which I concentrate solely on the subject or image to be drawn, and not on the drawing being produced. The effect is that the drawing becomes uncontrolled and dislocated, and remains unedited to gain a sense of the ‘real’ image. I use this method as I’m interested in the theory that self analysis is almost unreal because a person becomes disillusioned, and perhaps don’t see what really is there. This way, in focussing entirely on the aesthetic outlines of the person as the subject, you get a more appropriate outcome of drawing than if it was produced with the intention of realism.

I have experimented with different materials, such as lace, paper cuttings and leather- looking vinyl and I like the idea of how different materials can connote different thoughts or feelings for the audience, i.e., lace produces a delicate and feminine idea, whilst leather has certain masculine or sexual associations. So in producing portraiture from these materials, the persona of the figure in the work automatically changes to fit the ideology of the material in use.

More recently I have become interested in the ‘Body tracks’ paintings of Ana Mendieta. These appeal to me as they are not primarily focussed on creating a self portrait or an image of identity, but work on literally leaving a trace of the body and its movements. The unpredictability of the outcome reflects elements of control vs. chaos within my own work, which I would like to develop further, possibly through a wider or more extensive range of materials.

Influenced by Mendieta I have created some of my own body tracks where I dragged my body through paint to leave different traces of myself, and also made prints from my own body. In selecting the more interesting pieces I made line drawings from them and cut them from different materials. The nature of how the original paintings were made from my body means they are quite abstract, and once turned into a line drawing cut from vinyl the pieces look oddly like a map or atlas. This interests me in terms of showing traces of my body and movements, and the whole idea of exploring how people construct their image.

'Recommended Daily Allowance'

'Morning Coffee'

Portraiture cuttings 2009

Portraiture paintings 2009

Some new work will be available to view on the blog very shortly.. I promise!

Magazine drawings

The magazine drawing series works almost in the same way as the previous food drawing series, yet includes the influence that the media has over society when pursuing what we determine the image of beauty. The act of cutting these drawings from food magazines mirrors something quite destructive in itself, whilst the final pieces are in fact extremely delicate and fragile.

Food Drawings

The series of drawings using food as their medium is rather extensive so above is just a small selection of the works. The figures are drawn using a blind contour method which relates to the apparent blindness that so many people have when it comes to looking at their own bodies; constantly finding flaws and scrutinising even minor aspects of their appearance. Food as a medium acts as a very instant and sometimes unforgiving medium, as every movement is shown, and again this represents different relationships we all have with food. I have been extremely pleased with the food drawings and think they definitely have potential to be developed and improved further.

Mixed Media Pieces

These pieces are again focussing on our perception of beauty as a modern day society and the relationships we share with food. The garments here act as an abstract view of beauty, with the apples representing historical contexts, terms used for women's bodies and forbidden temptations, as well as being largely based on the case study of Ana Carolina Reston, a Brazillian model who died from eating only apples and tomatoes for a month. The idea behind these garments was to create something that initially looked quite attractive and seductive, yet over a period of time would change and start to revolt the viewer. This mirrors the enticement of beauty which is sometimes soon followed by more serious and ugly consequences.

The installation above is a transcription of the idea of a nuclear 1950's family, with traditional values, healthy relationships and 'rituals' or traditions based around food. The displacement and dislocation of used dining objects signifies the change in family life due to a modern society, and places emphasis on the preciousness and sentimentality we sometimes place on insignificant objects relating to family life.

2007/8 Work

These works are based on buildings found around the Stoke - on - Trent area. I became interested in the apparent need for regeneration of buildings around this area and looked mainly at the aesthetics of the decay and deterioration of these places, focussing on certain areas more than others in relation to the state of the building. I find the half painting, half drawing element to these paintings most interesting as they mirror both drawing plans for regenerated architecture and represent a more abstract view that these buildings will eventually be demolished and fade from the landscapes, being replaced by contemporary projects.