statement

My work has always primarily been inspired by images of the body, both its interior and exterior.  The physical self must surely be considered the starting point for all psychological understanding: it is the vehicle for the emotions, the tangible presence by which we are known to others, and the most immediate tool through which our inner psyche is able to manifest itself and act upon the world.

My artistic practice has continually involved, in some form, the direct interaction between mind and hand through drawing.  Along with the production of more traditional object-based art, my work has also included working ephemerally with larger-scale installation.  Using techniques such as light projection and drawing directly onto the walls and floor with ink and charcoal, I have explored the use of alternative surfaces and spaces.  My drawings have served as the basis for creating installations where the original work on paper becomes transformed by light, scale and the distortions created by using a three-dimensional space as my working surface.

After working with space and installation, this piece, "Lateral View of the Spine", represents a recent return to the two-dimensional and the basic technique of finely detailed observational drawing.  It comes from a series of works juxtaposing anatomical images with found objects from the natural environment, an exploration which began in March 2009 while I was Artist in Residence at Murrays Cottage in Hill End (NSW, Australia).

One morning while in Hill End, I stepped outside to discover a spine‚ in my front garden, a delicate stem of slightly withered leaves that almost exactly emulated the human vertebrae.  I ruminated on this, wondered what nature was trying to tell‚ me.  Suddenly, in studying the finer details of my surroundings more closely, I began to notice anatomical metaphors everywhere I looked—a brain, a spleen, a lung, muscles, teeth, bones, skin.  In the spirit of early naturalists and botanists such as Joseph Banks, Ferdinand Bauer, William Blackall and Sydney Parkinson, I began to collect these specimens‚ and study them closely.  It soon became apparent to me that there is a strong link between the intricate structure of our own bodies and that of the natural environment.  These anatomical parts together make up a living breathing entity, whose complicated physiological processes maintain an equilibrium not unlike that occurring in our own bodies.

bio

born:1979, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

education:

University of Dundee (Scotland), MFA, 2008
University of Melbourne (Australia), PG Cert in Art Conservation, 2006
University of Ballarat (Australia), BFA (Hons), 2003

selected awards/honors

Australia Council International Studio Residency, British School at Rome, Italy, 2009
Agendo Emerging Artist Award (finalist), Melbourne, Australia,  2009
Flanagan Art Prize (finalist), St Patrick's College, Ballarat, Australia, 2009 & 2008
Discovery Scholarship, University of Dundee, Scotland, 2007

selected publications

The British School at Rome: Fine Arts 2009-2010. Rome, Italy: BSR Publishing, 2010

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Counihan Gallery:  Soul / Skin / Space, Melbourne, Australia, 2010
Art Gallery of Ballarat:  A Natural Comparison, Ballarat, Australia, 2010
Deveron Arts:  The hands of Huntly (installation), Huntly, Scotland, 2008
Arthur Creative Space:  The year I disappeared, Ballarat, Australia, 2008

selected group shows

Space 22:  Black + White, Ballarat, Australia, 2010
British School at Rome:  Tempo Reale 09, Rome, Italy, 2009
Generator Gallery:  MFA Degree Show, Dundee, Scotland, 2008
Royal Scottish Academy:  RSA Student Exhibition, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2008