Artist's Statement
I am interested in the structure, order and classification of the natural world and in why we have the need to classify and create order. I investigate the issues involved in classification as complexity is removed and individuality or character is lost. I look at why we feel the need to classify and create order, then at the issues that are involved in doing so.
In exploring the interpretation and use of signs and representational imagery, philosophies and ancient belief systems and the fields of cognitive science, I look at how we interpret images by using our senses, memories and past experiences and how this ultimately affects our perception of the subject. I investigate the Latin names given to all living things: understanding what the names mean, why they were given, who named them and how this impacts on both visual and written language.
My images take a more abstract view, as my aim is to reveal rather than replicate what is already there. Nature itself inspires me – there is always something fascinating to see, something never noticed before. In art, I have always found inspiration in the works of the Impressionist painters and in contemporary artists such as Michael Landy, Mark Dion and Cornelia Parker.
"Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask 'how', while others of a more curious nature will ask 'why'. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information." Man Ray