Self with Past Ed. 2 of 10

I like to create illusions of space by exploring the abstracts of time and sound and memory – the ambiguity of reality. We understand this space although we may not have experienced it personally.

"Self with Past" uses self portrait drawings and parts of my own studio works, combining them to give a sense of time and history. It is a personal, but not private, journey. There is a sense of landscape and space and sound in this work. These are all influences on my work.

This work is rich with warmth and intrigue.

While I sometimes work from my own photographs of the visible world, my digital work is more often developed from photographs of details of my paintings and drawings, as in this print. I use many layers of colours in my paintings in order to achieve an intense depth of colour and tone in order to evoke a richness of experience both real and imagined. Likewise, by applying rich, sonorous colour in my digital prints, I aim to achieve these same layers of history (time and memory). The works become intimate by the need to look closely into them to discover small nuances that may “touch” the viewer. Conversely, the works can also become universal as they reference common realities and imaginations.

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My work is mostly painting, drawing and mixed media. As the daughter of a cabinetmaker and a creative homemaker, I have always been interested in art and design and making things. After leaving school I originally studied and worked as an Industrial Designer but soon made my way into Graphic Design jobs and eventually into Tertiary Art and Design teaching. I currently work full time in my Mittagong Studio as a professional artist, exhibiting in Regional NSW and Victoria, and in Melbourne and Sydney.
I often work in series where I have several works happening at the same time. I like to explore one subject or idea by creating as many works as I need before exhausting that idea. I love experimenting and, although this was a good attribute for teaching painting and design, it has also resulted in my portfolio comprising of many directions in my work over the years. I just love making art.
My work ranges from abstract to expressive and impressionistic. Nature's patterns and textures are common themes where I interpret rather than copy my subject. Important landscapes include the desert, the bush and the coast. Unfashionable and untidy are appealing! I enjoy seeking a visual language that interprets the landscape that I experience. I "hear" and "feel" the landscape, as well as "view" it.
The subjects of still life and portraiture are reliable backstops that I keep returning to. There's always the kitchen, the domestic scene and dead flowers. They are static and always there for me. Portraits and the figure are of great interest, and I regularly participate in the practice of life drawing.
I regularly return to intangible subjects such as sound, noise and silence (what would a sound look like - how can I visually describe it?), smell, taste, touch, unfamiliar language, time, memory and history. My works expose my interest in colour theory and design elements, leading me to reduce any recognisable image in order to place undeniable emphasis on the emotive content. Such works can be more “difficult” to view and more challenging to create. There is a delayed reaction in their making, as if they need sort of incubation time to distill a little.
I develop much of my work in the studio referencing my sketches, photos, my written descriptions and thoughts, and, above all, my memory and knowledge.