Works On Paper

Much of my work involves re-examining those parts of life we tend to take for granted. They are so often those parts of our life that struggle to be recognised in a system that seems to be more and more  about efficiency and the financial bottom line. Often the stuff that gets missed is the very stuff that brings colour and connection to our lives. Our world is an awesome arrangement of number patterns across almost every domain of human activity but rarely do we stop to ponder and be touched by their intrinsic beauty. I also think it is about personally giving ourselves time and the right to put ourselves into what we do. For me hands on activities that bring me in to relationship with the materials of our life somehow tap into deeper layers of understandings that lie beyond words. Repetition, time and an open mind are important.

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Stitching works

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Part of the reason I stitched these formulas is because I like sewing. It is calming, empowering if you succeed and tempering if you don’t. My grandma always sewed and I always loved what she made. She inspired me. She might not have been a mathematician but I loved how she used her machine (a technological marvel for households of her time) and her understanding of patterns and measurements to make beautiful things for the people around her with her personal signature. In this art work “Softly Quantified”  I have tried to take a leaf out of my grandmother’s book by sewing the number formulas that organise our lives be it physics or finance. I have stitched hundreds of formulas. Each stitch is a tiny knot forming a letter, each letter part of package (formula) whose multiple untrimmed threads suggest a tactile and sensory myriad of connections. In sewing these formulas I found new understandings – that is what art does, it reveals new insights.

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Ink and drawing works

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I have a deep love of colour. Colour moves me - it changes how and what I feel. Painting with water and ink is a bit like listening to music or watching the changing skies of a sun set. It is expanding, intimately intricate, rapidly moving and slow settling all at once. There is something meditative, connecting and metabolising linked to the process. Drawing takes me into an adjacent realm. There is a flow space where concentration amplifies the presence of the moment, the connection of  hand to tool to surface along with the an awareness of what my body is up to. Breath seems to take a melodic role while my body quietly sends feedback on the patterns of use - where there is poise, tension and disruption. At the same time memories arise, stimuli combine and conversations with all kinds of life forms weave through. For me drawing can be equally as enriching done alone or in the company of others.