My Portfolio

Painting, as I understand it, is a process of both external and internal observation. Art is a reflection of the inner life of the artist, and as such, I am interested in how deep self-observation and cultivation have a direct effect on the artwork produced. As my own work develops, both internally in terms of self-connection and observation, and externally in terms of creating artwork, I am interested in exploring how painting can communicate something deeper about a person's internal world.

 

I am attracted to art that penetrates the superficial layers of everyday life and communicates something below the surface. I would like to explore how landscapes can communicate something about the internal world, using light, colour, brush strokes, and composition to create a mood or emotional atmosphere.

 

I am also interested in how a portrait can communicate something about the psychology of the painter, or about the mind of the subject - using painting as a mirror to delve into the deeper layers of the individual.

 

I am very interested in understanding the individual mind in terms of its collective conditioning, and am keen to explore the link between individuation (decentralisation, or un-conditioning) and authentic artwork. I would like to analyse, observe and critique artwork in psychoanalytical terms, using it as a mirror for the deeper layers of inherited, societal, and situational conditioning. I am also interested in striking a balance between an intellectual approach to art, and an intuitive approach to painting. Whilst I am interested in building my intellectual knowledge to develop my work, I find that the process of painting itself is always best conducted in an empty, intuitive space - in a space of 'no-mind'.

 

My long-term goal is to create artwork that is capable of communicating the truth of a situation or a person, not only superficially in terms of a likeness, but captures something deeper, something perhaps beyond the verbal, which is essential to the lived experience I am attempting to capture. I aim to use painting as a tool for both self-observation and as a means to observe and understand the intersubjective and physical world. I am interested to explore the link between the internal and external realms, looking at impressionism, post-impressionism, and expressionism, in order to understand something of the human mind and human life through art.