I am a practising visual artist and psychotherapist investigating the role of the subconscious mind in the creative process. My painting practice is concerned with finding new techniques to explore the relationship between these two fields and sharing my vision with a wider audience through exhibitions and workshops.
My combined role as visual artist and
psychotherapist is the result of a longstanding desire to understand
a powerful driving force within myself. Painting for me is a way of exploring
and expressing this force and the resulting creative dialogue is a gateway
to unexpected discoveries and resolutions on a personal, artistic and
societal level.
When I embark on a new series of paintings I make an active
and intellectual response to the emotions that trigger the creative process.
I am not aware of a theme at that point. The theme evolves and leads
me on a journey of exploration, the outcome of which combines conscious
and subconscious elements.
Marks and signs build the first draft of an image. After experimenting
in previous series with tactile metallic surfaces underlying the images,
I decided for the series that would develop into Oedipus Diving to begin
the process of painting by priming the wooden panels with spontaneous
brushmarks that would become integral to the entire composition.
This technique may be compared to the Surrealists' concept of 'autographic'
or 'automatic' signs, the difference being that I am unwilling to limit
these signs and the resulting work to the 'return of the repressed' from
a solely personal 'unconscious'.
My painting recognises and develops the visual and narrative possibilities
of these marks and is a dance between intuition, discovery, emotional
involvement and painterly decision. I make work in series because the
serial motif allows a theme - once established - to be dissected
and viewed from various perspectives, both visual and conceptual.
Because the paintings are connected to the 'bodymind' from the outset
I feel it is important to use the human figure as my subject.
