About me:
I use drawing and making to explore and record my relationship with the natural world. Using a range of processes including drawing, printmaking and construction, and materials such as wool, lichen, moss, charcoal, graphite and gunpowder, I collect, collate, observe and record my experiences of living in a very remote rural envionment.
Drawing has always served as an experiential, meditative activity for me and is usually built up through processes of cumulative repetitive actions, marking specific periods of time or adhering to certain pre-determined constraints.
Increasingly I am interested in developing work where the process of making/unmaking is prioritised over final outcome, where the build up of mark-making becomes so dense that the work becomes obliterated or disintegrates, spanning the full cycle from creation to destruction.
I will use this opportunity develop and explore this idea through the processes of printmaking and papermaking, culminating in a body of work which is the result of my investigation into the making/unmaking process. Working in a university environment is in immense contrast to working in my studio on the edge of the moors. The AA2A scheme is a welcome opportunity for me to engage in discussions with fellow artists, exchange ideas and share expertise.
I studied an MA in Fine Art at Bath Spa University and was Artist in Residence for VARC (Visual Arts in Rural Communities ) from 2010-2011. I live and work in the North Tyne valley in Northumberland.
