Forest Weft, City Warp
My work finds inspiration from forests, from trees and plants and lichens and moss and fungi and mushrooms- from things that grow and decay. In this series I have broken down everyday urban and industrial materials and fashioned them into the forms and textures of Nature. Each piece functions as a kind of “urban veil” symbolic of an attempt to look beyond the distractions of city life that obscure and disallow the spiritual clarity that is accessible in Nature.
Curatorial Essay
Curatorial Essay
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What the Wind Whispers 1
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 45 x 43 x 25 cm |
Entropy Blossoms
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 70 x 80 x 20 cm 2017 
The Sky Grows out of the Mud
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 54 x 62 x 11 cm 2017 |
The hunter-gatherer phase of existence occupies at least ninety percent of human history and this may be why experiencing the Natural world has such a therapeutic impact, connecting at a deep psychic level. When I walk alone in the forests and in the mountains, often I have had a keen awareness of how my body is as organic as the trees, plants and earth around me. It is only the story in my brain that tells me I am a separate identity-the ego that tries to assert itself. When out in Nature I know myself to be a part of it and also of all other living beings. Cloth is used extensively in these works, its interwoven threads symbolizing this interconnectedness at the spiritual level. I find coherence and beauty in the rhythms of Nature. Processes in Nature follow their own gradual path and cannot be hurried. The barks of trees for example bear the marks of the storms it has weathered, the erosion, the moss and fungi that have grown on it, its own growth marks. One can almost see its building up over the decades on its surface. My work too is built up in layers. It requires waiting for one layer to dry before the next can be applied and in this way the work too cannot be hurried and grows at a certain pace or rhythm dictated by the materials. In this series this effect has been even more pronounced as not only have I used materials like paint and paper that need to dry but also materials like plaster and epoxy resin that have a curing time. Many of the forms have been created by molding the humble (quintessentially urban) material of toilet paper to the bones of my fingers. Curiously, this trace of the human body becomes a form reminiscent of corals, forest blossoms or fungi growing on the bark of trees- another reminder of how our bodies our connected to natural formations. |
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The Dust Holds Untold Treasures 1
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 67 x 77 x 10 cm 2017 |
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The Dust Holds Untold Treasures 2 Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 73 x 85 x 9 cm 2017 |
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Sunshine Groves
Cloth, Paper, Rope, Wool, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 96 x 77 x 20 cm 2017 |
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Weaving in Growth
Cloth, Plaster, Plastic, Epoxy Resin, Wire and Paint 80 x 37 x 20 cm 2017 |
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What the Wind Whispers 2
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 54 x 70 x 10 cm 2017 |
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Entropy Flourishes
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 47 x 67 x 12 cm 2017 |
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Each Little Flower that Opens
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Wool, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 98 x 108 x 11 cm 2017 |
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Seedlings
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Hot Glue and Paint 88 x 82 x 18 cm 2017 |
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Interwoven Landscapes 1
Cloth, Rope, Plaster, Epoxy Resin and Paint 89 x 103 x 7 cm 2017 |
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Entangled Hope
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 44 x 50 x 14 cm 2017 |
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The Call of the Forest
Cloth, Plastic, Paper, Rope, Hot Glue, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire 52 x 42 x 18 cm 2017 |
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Growing in Things Wild 1
Cloth, plaster, paper, resin, paint wire
15 x 56 x 28 cm
2017
Cloth, plaster, paper, resin, paint wire
15 x 56 x 28 cm
2017
Snuggling into the Landscape
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire
65 x 150 x 33 cm
2017
Cloth, Paper, Plaster, Epoxy Resin, Paint and Wire
65 x 150 x 33 cm
2017