My materials
I’m a materials person when it comes to my art practice and I’m fascinated what can be achieved by pushing materials to create new, often abstract, work. Below is an introduction to the materials I use
Petri Latex Series - Various examples
The Petri Latex series symbolises my obsession with creating reactions that capture energy in a moment by combining an artistic and scientific approach. The work is driven by an obsessiveness with detail, alchemy and the potential of material.
Abstracted 35 - Various examples
The Abstracted 35 series is the result of an experimental process using familiar materials like ink, pigment and chemicals to create tiny semi-transparent images which are then scanned in high resolution to see what might appear at a larger scale. The source images are 36x24mm in size and can be enlarged to a metre high.
Iteration
Iteration is an enduring influence, whether natural or manmade, how systems repeat but with the influence of direction and/or time - from the continents moving to the seasons. This series seeks to observe the details that are lost and found during the process.
Divided, Reformed, Repeated.
2020
Breaking down a single image into multiple, never ending variants.
This series was created as a need for order and control during the first lockdown in April 2020, it gave me something intense, immersive and compelling to focus on. It was inspired by Pattern by Gerhard Richter.
21 groups of images
The groupings created using segments of the original image - divided, reformed, repeated - until only rings of colour remain. As smaller segments are used the more repetition is required, for example:
60 degree segments create 6 variants
10 degree segments create 36 variants
0.5 degree segments create 720 variants
On Paper
This series of work focusses on the use of oil as the basis for creating work which attempts to capture energy in its many forms. This comes out of an obsession with the unseen forces around us and how they control our environment and our perceptions of the world around us
Photography
I’ve always used photography to document my activity and am increasingly using photography as a mechanism for creating moments of pause that capture a moment in time. I’m experimenting with my mirrorless Fujifilm and Rolleicord medium format camera.
Some examples are shown below
Scotland, 2020. Rolleicord V
Scotland, 2020. Rolleicord V
Scotland, 2020. Rolleicord V
Scotland, 2020. Rolleicord V
Scotland, 2020. Rolleicord V
Scotland, 2020. Rolleicord V
New Holland, Lincs. Nov 2020. Fujifilm XT-30
New Holland, Lincs. Nov 2020. Fujifilm XT-30
New Holland, Lincs. Nov 2020. Fujifilm XT-30
Process Drawing
This iterative series signified a shift in me to being much more active in the process of creating images using a mixture of material, mark making, photography and cycles of repetition.
Rope Process Drawing. This set of images was created from a photograph of abandoned rope on the shorefront in Douglas on the Isle of Man
The images below were created during the experimentation process and showed what can be uncovered using a repetitive process
Pottery Forms
For me, clay is about creating a dialogue with the material, working with it to create abstract forms that have a presence beyond their size. The vessels are non functional, evocative, and made to be held
Stoneware, 2016
Stoneware, 2016
Stoneware, 2016
India, 2016
India, 2016
India, 2016
Drawing
I have an atypical relationship with drawing, I don’t use it to help bring ideas to life or just to sketch something. I’m more interested in using drawing to explore the relationship of forms, lines and colour.
