Updated statement - 12/05/12
“I felt a tremendous distance between me and everything real.”
- Hunter S. Thompson
Concepts such as strength, new beginnings, female empowerment and characterisation build the foundations to my work. I find the creative process to be both therapeutic and thought provoking. My lens-based work is created using self-portraiture, reflecting my interest in identity. I aim to encourage the viewer to seek out a narrative concerning the character within each piece, filling in the blanks and piecing together their own story. I find this kind of stimulation to be particularly appealing and important when viewing artwork.
Often surreal and horror-inspired, my work mimics dreams and nightmares, playing with the limitations of reality and vastness of the imagination. I intend for my work to be bold and powerful and will almost always choose black and white over colour, as I believe black and white creates an exciting and lucid world we would never view in real life.
I take my inspiration from German Expressionism, Film Noir, early Walt Disney and exploitation films, for example, Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), George Romero’s zombie masterpiece Night of the Living Dead (1968), and Walt Disney’s The Skeleton Dance (1929).
My work is ultimately drawn from classic horror imagery, combining and contrasting the beautiful with the unsettling.
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October 2011 - December 2012
Shedding
Definition
a. To lose by natural process
b. To rid oneself of something not wanted or needed
Snakes shed their skins up to four times a year, often to allow growth or to get rid of parasites. I am interested in the concept of human shedding, emotional and physical. This notion stemmed from overcoming recent personal issues and beginning a new chapter in my life. Though the images I create may seem uncomfortable and painful, perhaps this is a process we all need to go through to get to where we need to be.
My photographs are self-portraits, however I have not made this obvious. I am interested in identity and allowing the viewer to create their own ‘story’ about each piece of work. I intend for my work to be bold and powerful and will almost always choose black and white over colour, as I believe black and white creates an exciting and lucid world we would never view in real life.
The majority of photographers and filmmakers who inspire my practice also work in black and white. For example, Russ Meyer’s 1965 exploitation film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, George A. Romero’s 1968 zombie masterpiece, Night of the Living Dead, Miwa Yanagi’s 2004 Fairy Tale series and Walt Disney’s 1933 animation, The Mad Doctor. My heavy use of red, seen mostly in my stitched work, is inspired by Barbara Kruger. Also, red symbolizes a huge amount of things that I believe are integral to my practice; excitement, energy, strength, danger, blood, passion, aggression, pain and love.
I am inspired by the concepts of fear, death, empowerment and the female body. My work is ultimately drawn from horror imagery and films, combining and contrasting the beautiful with the unsettling.
