I use process and materiality to investigate the dynamic forces of nature and chemical interaction. My work is positioned where art meets science, arising from an affinity for ice and a fascination for geology. Participation in Polar expeditions strengthened my deep appreciation of the frozen world, and together these led me to initiate an ongoing collaboration with Geochemist Dr Joanne Johnson of British Antarctic Survey.
I use process and materiality to investigate the dynamic forces of nature and chemical interaction. My work is positioned where art meets science, arising from an affinity for ice and a fascination for geology. Participation in Polar expeditions strengthened my deep appreciation of the frozen world, and together these led me to initiate an ongoing collaboration with Geochemist Dr Joanne Johnson of British Antarctic Survey.
I look to the coastline of Gower where I live, and to all aspects of Joanne’s climate science for creative scope, as I seek to develop a visual vocabulary appropriate for the environmental conditions of today. Alongside painting, I create three-dimensional pieces using natural and man made elements, whilst utilising extreme temperature via kiln, flame and freezer. The impact of industrialisation and rising seas, along with ground-breaking scientific analyses and the resilience of the natural world, form the foundation on which my work is placed. I explore the concepts of absence and presence and creation within destruction, bringing together culturally discrete materials which react, stain, engage and reject. These provide unpredictable, atypical outcomes which grant visibility to the invisible and tangibility to the intangible. This new perspective delivers enhanced impact, both to scientific data and to that which hides in plain sight. It contributes positively to a greater understanding of our current environmental situation and to recognising that human beings are a part of the world not apart from it.
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The significant shift in direction within my art practice [after 25 years] from traditional to contemporary arose from the will to delve beneath the surface aesthetics of landscape; to widen my approach in order to explore further my deep emotional connection to the natural environment.
This new work originates from the same place, my innate respect for planetary evolution and, in particular, our frozen world. Consequently, quoting artist Rachel Whiteread, I am “not changing my language, rather I’m expanding my vocabulary” as I continue to uncover a world beyond representation.
Undertakings of particular note:
Selected solo exhibitions specifically associated with climate change:
Further history:
