My work focuses on the relationship and connections between people and the land. In “Letters from an Empty House”, I used 128 pairs of cast shoes – work boots – all made from various familiar natural and processed materials such as leaves, fabric and cement. In “Shadowmarks” I used mud to paint the image of the two men onto the wall of the house. Both pieces use materials drawn from the land.
I have always had a facility for mark-making and all my works have a mark-making component to them. In the years after leaving college my work comprised mostly installations. These installations used the fundamentals of mark-making – colour, line and texture, elements which are also very significant in my paintings.
My inspiration comes from the countryside, both the tranquillity and the vigour. The quietude offers the opportunity to experience the pleasures of the senses: looking at the colours, feeling the breeze, smelling the hay. While I greatly enjoy this stillness, I also value the energy and bustle of daily life all around, the presence of people on the land. When I look around me I see both the way we have affected the land and how we are affected by it. This symbiotic relationship is the primary concern in my work.
My work comprises recording of activities, drawing and site-specific pieces. It is a process of gathering, a gleaning of images and ideas. The drawings reflect on what has been collected and the site-specific works brings all the parts together in a presentation. My sources are drawn from traces in the land of habitations; from maps and aerial photographs; from found and natural objects, folklore, customs and stories. All these things inspire my imagery and ideas.