[ statement ]
I am a tapestry weaver and printmaker by training, with over twenty
years experience as a practising artist and teacher.
The themes that form the basis of my work have to do with how
we understand ourselves and our surroundings, and with the ways
in which what appears on the surface may not necessarily be what
lies underneath. These are enduring themes that we can all relate
to. We make assumptions, as we must, about ourselves and our environment,
but it is often beneficial to look more closely at what seems most
familiar.
The predominant image in my earlier works has been a 'vessel'
- a simple pot shape that could take on a variety of meanings:
it
could quite literally be a pot or it could be seen as something
as complex as a human personality. More recently, I have begun
a series of works that relate to the working journal of my grandfather,
a professional gardener, whose diary 1906-07 recorded his apprenticeship
on a Scottish Highland estate. From my study of this diary have
emerged a number of ideas relating to the garden and to our relationship
with our natural and cultivated landscape. So far, I have been
exploring these ideas primarily in the media of woven tapestry
and printmaking.
I am interested in the idea of 'looking
out' and 'looking
in' and with the way in which our presence in a space can
alter that environment and how it can in turn change us. I have
been working closely with the idea of the 'enclosed garden' and
see this as a concept that could be explored in a number of different
ways. It offers the potential for a rich variety of meaning.
I see the possibilities based around the idea of the 'enclosed
garden' in its broadest sense, as a 'place' that
makes us reassess both our personal environment and our relationship
with the wider world. |
[ print & bookworks ]
[ tapestries ] |