Artists’ Statement
After the death of my mother from cancer, I began using a single X-ray of her abdomen combined with my surrounding landscape as source material. It became a way to hold onto her memory and absorb the meaning of her passing.
The resulting shapes and marks led to the development of a visual language. I ‘collage’ carefully selected shapes and marks from that language, dissecting and editing elements to create an overall composition.
The development of my visual language of shapes and marks is inspired from, and the result of, combining a single X-ray with territorial mapping and sketches of places I’ve experienced in my environment. Brushed India ink marks are juxtaposed with white space and flat, painted colour. Each entity learns to coexist while maintaining its own identity. My intent is to create confusion as to whether the work is hand made or printed – that things are not quite what they seem.
I’m interested in forming a collage-like space that reflects the relationship between the body and landscape as interconnected and parallel experiences. Drawing becomes a tool where observation and imagination intersect resulting in a relationship of connections and disconnections between inside and outside or absence and presence.