My most recent work has been a working out of my memories, shrouded in the mists of time, that stem from the womb. I am a bereaved-at-birth twin. This state of being has driven a life-long interest in the nebulous; those thoughts and feelings that are so hard to pin down and explain to others. John Donne wrote, “No man is an island, Entire of itself.” We are relational beings and the idea of relationship manifests in my work.
Most recently I have been working with sheer fabrics to speak of the difficulty in grasping an idea or thought or memory or feeling that is just out of reach. Sometimes I find reflections resonate. I find reflections odd. I can never really see myself as others see me. I see a similar image but not what they see. I sometimes think of the reflections as a doorway into an alternate reality. I think the world works one way and you may think it works in a different way, but we only have one world. For me, reflections echo my relationship with my brother. Both born of the same parents, but both different. In a sense we are / were a reflection of each other, in that odd way between twins.
The installations have all been about relationships. Mostly about the loss of a relationship; the expression of deeply felt hurt. I have a commission with English Heritage to make an installation in the Rushton Triangular Lodge in Northamptonshire. It was designed and built during difficult and dangerous times and I am working to manifest something of that in the artwork.
Sometimes I make work just for the 'What if ...?' moments. One of these resulted in the mono and screen prints on this website.
As well as working in textiles, I use paint, print, sound, video and collage. I have been fortunate to be able to study Fine Art at the University of Northampton for both the BA and the MA. I found having the space to explore different media enriching and exciting. Expressing myself in words is something I have always found difficult. Finding a way to express one’s deepest thoughts and feelings is a challenge, and if you are like me, finding a visual or aural way of doing it is a great relief.
