ARTIST STATEMENT
PAINTING/ DRAWING
I have a strong interest in the portrait and its surroundings. In my paintings I emphasize
how important it is to introduce the figure in a challenging space. The space around the
portrait is just as important as the portrait itself. I investigate the division of the painting surface
and the relationships of the figure to pulsating color and pattern enviroments.
I enjoy capturing my figures and portraits at a moment in time were they seem to gaze
and invite the viewer to get lost in their own world of color. The objects and patterns surrounding the
figures create a surreal dream-like environment in many of my paintings. The objects and patterns become
significant symbols that reflect the identities of the individuals represented.
COLLAGE
Either figurative or abstract, the collages adhere to the same rules of divisions and layering
as the paintings. When combining collage with other mediums to create a figurative collage, I make sure
that all mediums on the piece emerge simultaneously to create a single balanced piece.I enjoy the immediacy I
get from the collages and they have helped me a lot in the division of large
and small ratios in my paintings.
The collages are extremely personal. I can recall where I have found every piece of paper
on the collage. I hide information in the collages. I prefer to use worn papers, which have been
stepped on or damaged in any other way, it shows that they already had a history by the time I
found them. The collages become locked diaries, in which they leave the viewer to appreciate the
formal issues and wonder about the secrets inside.
LETTER COLLAGES
Each letter is aimed at a very specific being. They vary from people,such as Letter to an Artist
and Letter to Mama y Papa, to more abstract entities such as Letter to Barbara’s Womb or
Letter to the Night. Just like any letter, I think about what I want to say and who I am saying it to.
I translate my feelings about the person, being or thing and the emotions that they express into a combination of
shape and color. A letter to my lover will convey a very different type of excitement than a letter to Mum and Dad!
Literal words are turned into shapes of color, and specific palettes and structures arrive in each letter.
It is exciting to see the finished letter, not only as a form of communicating to the specific person or thing,
but it is interesting how the letter also becomes a portrait of the person or thing itself.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Much of my photography deals with issues of identity. I enjoy placing portraits and figures
among surreal elements. I am aware of the space around the figures and often make the space relate directly
to what is going on with the figures. I also enjoy abstractions in nature and the idea of tricking the eye.
ANIMAL PROJECT
In my most recent project, The Animal Project, I place figures and animals sharing the same world.
I think of the qualities of a specific animal and then shoot a figure who carries out a pose or action that
relates to the animal. I paint the animal directly on the photograph by hand. I then re-shoot the photograph so
there is no evidence of paint on the photograph. This gives the impression that the animal was there with the figure
at the time of shooting. The photographs provide fun, unusual images that illustrate comical stories between figures and
animals. They offer a new sense of reality that would not be achievable out in the real world.
BREAST PROJECT
In The Breast Project, I selected different shaped pieces of glass and painted breasts on
them. The models would hold the pieces of glass against them, so the breasts would line up with
their own. I see these photographs as humorous, yet with serious overtones. These images are a response
to the expectations put on women in the media today. I am fascinated by makeover reality TV
shows like I Want a Famous Face and The Swan. In The Swan, the surgeon can be seen as
an artist who shapes and moulds womens bodies into what is the ideal body type today. The
surgeon becomes a sculptor and make-up artists become painters. In the making of these
images, I relate to both of these, in that I am modifying body types.
In the photographs I paint and change my models to keep up with the ideals. I give them large
breasts, large lips, long eyelashes, thin eyebrows; I cover them with make-up. However, the
expected beauty does not surface. Instead, I am left with grotesque women who have lost their
individuality and identity. Many women in the world seek these changes in their body and also
end up looking unnatural and grotesque. These photographs question the ideal beauty proposed by
popular culture and mock the expectations cultivated by the media.