Etching provides me with the opportunity to build layers; representing time and weathering that is inherent to all places.
I live and work in Avening, Gloucestershire, and having completed a Print and Drawing PhD in 2019, my research continues to drive my exploration of representations of place. My printmaking practice reflects my experience of walking through the rural countryside, and becoming immersed in a place. The countryside is an imperfect vision of a natural environment that has been shaped by human intervention. Paths are chewed and indented by farm machinery, hedges are cut and fences repaired. Nature does its best to wrench back control; rain washes paths to new shapes, fence posts lean to their own tune and these are the moments that I find fascinating. Every piece I create begins with drawing, exploring the structures and textures of footpaths, lanes andbridleways; tracking seasonal and environmental changes. Animmersive approach enables me to document place in a diarist’s format, drawing attention to glimpses and moments that build to a whole. My practice is informed by experiential writers and artists such as Tim Ingold and John Virtue.
I work with a monochromatic palette in order to focus attention onto surfaces, structural elements and light. The qualities within the materials that I use and their potential for mark making are important motivating factors. Working with the alchemy of etching enables me to exploit a rich visual language of texture, line and marks and are created using traditional intaglio methods on copper plates. Most importantly, etching provides me with the opportunity to build layers into my image making; representing an over-layering of time and weathering that is inherent to all places.
My work has been selected for the RE Masters, SGFA open, Bath Society of Artists open and the RWA open exhibitionsand I have exhibited nationally and locally.