Artist statement

I paint because I like not knowing what’s going to happen.

I work mainly with acrylic and charcoal on raw canvas, starting without a clear plan and seeing where it takes me. I follow marks, colours and shapes that catch my attention, sometimes building things up and sometimes wiping them away. I leave things that feel wrong, change my mind, make a mess, start again.

I’ve become much more interested in play and instinct in my work. I want to be able to make a mark without immediately judging it, and to let a painting be strange, awkward, funny or unresolved.

There is something freeing in not trying to make everything beautiful or meaningful. Sometimes a line is just a line. Sometimes a colour needs to be there because I like it.

I’m drawn to natural, quieter colours and open spaces, but I like disrupting them with something a little more unexpected. A loose mark, a strange shape, a flash of colour. I like that moment when a painting starts to feel as though it has its own personality and I have to respond to it rather than control it.

I’m interested in what happens when I stop trying to get it right and start paying attention to what is actually there. The process can be calming, but it can also be playful, frustrating, ridiculous and surprising.

I don’t think my paintings need to explain themselves completely.

I’d rather leave some room for the viewer to bring their own feelings, memories and associations to them. For me, that is part of the fun. Making something without knowing exactly what it means, and being okay with that.