Born and working in Manchester, UK, I am exploring themes of trickery through creating illusive surfaces built up through layers of oil paint. I am interested in how the process of layering in painting mimics the deceptive nature of a magic trick, hiding and revealing clues within the paintings. The works have a theatrical feel due to their staged nature, and they often have unsettling light sources that signify a presence within the works. Mundane, everyday objects appear throughout the paintings, yet their context is distorted through playful, obscure compositions. Scenes in the works are often cropped, and explore the presence and non-presence of a figure through explorations of domestic spaces.
My practice is deep-rooted in the technique of painting and its physical properties that allow for creating varying surfaces. Surrounded by a fast-paced, digitally influenced society, I am interested in the slowness of looking and gestating to unravel the work and find connections and nuances in the paint. This is reflected in a slow, intricate layering of paint, which encourages the viewer to pause and contemplate when encountering the works due to a slightly uneasy, mysterious setting