Biography
Born in Kendal, Cumbria 1987
Foundation course at Leith School of Art, Edinburgh 2006-2007
Studied at The Glasgow School of Art 2007-2011
3 Month Exchange at Alberta College of Art and Design, Canada 2009
Currently living and working in The Lake District
Art Education
BA (first-class hons), Painting & Printmaking, The Glasgow School of Art
Awards
The Stevenson Award; for a painter of merit, (RSA:NC) 2012
Glasgow Print Studio Award (RSA:NC) 2012
Friends of Leith School of Art Prize 2007
Exhibitions
“RSA New Contemporaries 2012”, Edinburgh 2012
Solo show “Fresh Glimpses”, Grizedale, Cumbria 2012
“Vortexwall”, The White Space Gallery, Edinburgh 2011
Degree Show, The Glasgow School of Art 2011
“Hidden Door“, Roxy Art House, Edinburgh 2010
“Forgotten Game”, site specific exhibition, Edinburgh 2010
“Hidden Door2“, Roxy Art House, Edinburgh 2010
“De-Still”, Joint show in the Vic Gallery, Glasgow 2010
“Prima Vera,” Marie Curie fundraising Exhibition, Touchie Studios, Scotland 2009
Leith School of Art “20th Anniversary Exhibition”, Edinburgh 2009
“Lines Coming and Going”, Mill Yard Studios, Cumbria 2009
Group Show, Marion Nichol Gallery, Alberta College of Art and Design, Canada 2009
Current Practice
I use painting's inherent language as a platform to create landscapes. These represent the most essential qualities from places I have visited. Without being exact depictions, my paintings contain the aura of specific spaces. A representation of landscapes within a landscape, which is far closer to the reality of memory.
In the studio I am concerned with the physicality of making work and playful experimentation. I am continually fascinated by new possibilities of making marks and by the vast space they appear to occupy. The potential resemblance of marks to natural qualities and events is central to my thoughts. The specificity of these intense moments of observation and clarity anchors the viewer, freeing them into a more universal encounter.
My decisions are determined by contrasts in scale, appearance and mood. The resulting images appear as illusionistic spaces that are interrupted by the mark of the physical gesture. I am interested in the comparison between the meditative space provided by these elements and that of being surrounded by nature itself. It is this parallel which drives me to create.