Bachelor of Visual Arts (1989-1991), Diploma in Fine Art (1992-1993),

Masters of Fine Art (1998-2000),

Diploma in Art Education (2001-2002)

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Born 1970 Newcastle NSW. Lives & works in Newcastle Australia.

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The multidimensional world of the Australian beach landscape and all that companies it: the waves, the sounds, the shells and sea breeze, the freedom one has when connecting with nature have been a conceptual cornerstone for most of my work as a figurative and landscape artist. My desire is to capture an allegory of the natural world around me and transform it into symbolic, dream like interpretations and reverie back to the viewer the impermanence of life and nature and our need to reconnect with it. I am fascinated by not only the external visible appearances of things, but the invisible vibrations that delicately radiate outwards and slightly touch our experiences and create our personal stories.

 

Art to me is a combination of aesthetics, self expression, exploration and experimentation of my thoughts, visions, emotions and reflection of my environment. Producing art is intellectually stimulating and fulfilling. After many years of artistic practice, naturally one develops a style and technique. I like to push this technique and explore new possibilities. Hence I work with two major mediums, oil painting and illustration, switching from one to the other to allow for experimentation to arise. 

 

My most recent work of beach landscapes and portraitures with exotic shells explores the ocean both geographically and symbolically.  My desire is not to replicate photographs, rather rival nature by fusing multiple layers of imagery that morph into one composition and softly alternate the main subject to reveal its narrative. The oil paintings of breezy seascapes explore intangible ideas that evokes themes of interconnectivity and internal languages with a rich palette of colour. The aim is to recapture the ebb and flow of the oceans landscape, carefully constructed with aesthetics of fantastical elements and deliberately executed realism in the attempt to mirror our internal experiences and inclinations for escapism. 

 

Working mostly intuitively, I stay motivated by aiming to awaken the senses with my work, It is not just about beauty, creating art is to stir ones mind, to question things and provoke conversations. I aim to capture an element of surprise with my figurative and portrait illustrations by adding unexpected juxtapositions of elaborate shells or circuitous tree roots.  There is a deliberate provocation tension between the swirling suggestions of movement and the subjects composed grace. Contrasting tones of dark and light engulf each subject highlighting the incongruous features entwined. 

 

These portraits represent the spirit of femininity, emitting grace and strength. The portraits are contemplating, they are looking, they are listening attentively, they are becoming apart of the shell which shares the sounds of the ocean, radiating with ethereal charm as they connect with nature. The viewer is invited to take the time to appreciate the organic use of line and form and explore the gentle feelings of comfort, the ebb and flow with the aesthetics. The message speaks of been in harmony with nature and communing with the environment.  It’s an invitation to reflect on blissful nostalgic memories of picking up shells and pausing for a few minutes to hear the ocean’s magic and recapture that fascination.