Core
Free Fall
gold leaf, gesso and ink on wood, 40X40cm
Portrait Wall
The first display of a series of 'psychological interiors', hung as we might see a collection of family portraits near the dining table. Mixed sizes, total space of display is 150x400cm.
The Leap Frog
Pencil, acrylic and clay on wood, 36X42cm
Leap Frog Wallpaper Design
Original painted design for Leap Frog tapestry or wallpaper, pencil, gesso and ink on paper, 29x42cm
Wrecking Ball (near miss)
Pencil, acrylic and clay on wood, 78X45cm
Fright or Flight
Pencil on paper, 35x42cm
Variations on the Thinker, sketch 2
Variations on the Thinker, sketch 2, pencil on paper, 30x40cm
Variations on the Thinker
Variations on the Thinker, sketch 1, pencil on paper, 30x40cm
My Name is Yellow
Frame painted with acrylic; pencil, collage and ink on paper, 53.5x70cm. This painting accompanies an original poem called: Sing your name. My name is Yellow. Sing your name, child. Sing your name the way your mother did when she chose it, full of hopes and dreams and wonder at what you might become. (whispers) …Yellow. Sing her name. 'My little sunshine... I will swallow you in the centre of my petals, my black-eyed susan. All four walls vibrating your name’. Yellow. She is here! A little sun-king. To love and to hold ’til death does its part. To absorb the brunt, to shield what the light might wield. Sing your name. (whispers) … Laurie. My name is yellow.
Other works
Swallow sketchbook pages
The African swallow is a form that has entered my work since I moved to Mallorca. I decided to start with this familiar symbol of migration.
Light Table Sketch - Woman and Swallow
Wanting to play with the glow and shadows created by lampshades, this image shows experiments with cut-out forms on the light table.
Light Table Sketch - Levitating Woman
Another light table experiment with cut-out forms on the light table. The levitating woman eventually became the prototype for many human silhouettes to enter into this series.
Swallow
The swallow compositions, originated with a light table sketch, and realised with ink and a gold leaf frame (34x42cm). This presentation was intended to reflect the feel of a Victorian portrait.
Studio wall with silhouettes
A view of the first series of Rorschach ink blot-like compositions of cut figures.
Insect Sketch
I was reading Kafka's Metamorphosis once again as I worked on this stage. The confused victim of narcissistic parents tosses and turns in a state of anxiety, as he realises he himself has become the parasite.
Echo by the Pool
Ink, gold leaf and acrylic on wood, 30x30cm. The repeated figure of the crouched woman was created to depict the typical pose of someone having an anxiety attack. The figure was a fixture in the first stage of this series.
Out of Body II
Image: Pencil, acrylic and bentonite clay on panel , 42.5x50.5cm. The repeated figure of the crouched woman is seen again here, but lighter, drained of colour and with the possibility for escape.
Studio table with paper dolls
Expanding beyond the silhouettes of the swallow and the levitating and convulsing woman, I began to amass a collection of figures, creating paper dolls I could place in various patterns and scenes...
Along for the ride
Sketch, 35x42cm
Trophy
Pen, gesso and glitter on found paper, 27.5x38cm
The Carrier 1
Sketch, 42x60cm. Gradually refining the composite male and female figures, I explore symmetrical replication of the earlier pieces in the series.
Collection of titles for possible pieces
I began to sort the many titles that came to me, making thematic connections and beginning to experiment digitally with figurative compositions to best depict the metaphors and references flooding my mind.
The Hanged Man
Pencil, ink, gesso and collage on paper, 63x42cm
Study for the Sword of Damocles
Ink, gesso and collage on paper, 57x46cm
Remain Calm (do not attempt to struggle)
Another working title for this mini-series is 'the fights that never happened. Pen on vellum on found paper, 82x20cm/each
Resistance is Futile Series of four
Resistance is Futile Series 1-4 (22x30cm/ea). Pen and gesso on found paper
Resistance is Futile Series #4
From the Resistance is Futile Series (22x30cm/ea), pen and gesso on found paper
Delayed Reaction Sketch II
Delayed Reaction II 30x40cm, pencil on paper
Fright or Flight Canvas
Fright or Flight, pencil, ink, plaster and gesso on canvas 100x120cm
Label and Image Sorting for 'Ball and Chain' idea
Like disused cars crushed into compact cubes, I created a paper cube of a mash-up of female figures. I had a vision of the cubes being stacked, stored, toppling over, and dragged along like a 'ball and chain'.
'Tether' sketch
'Tether' digital sketch coloured with red pen and white correction pen. Tether felt like a more suitable title than 'ball and chain'.
Label and Image Sorting for 'Better Half' idea
My process is a bit like paper dolls or marionettes. I draw a series of figures, cut them out an layer them. I also scan them, create digital transparencies and layer them on my lap top to be able to experiment with many compositions before committing to creating them on a larger scale.
Gender Card in process sketch
Gender Card in process sketch, 63x96cm. So many of these 'titles' are really the beginning of an entire series. I think I've got about ten years of work dancing in my head. This is my first try to create a large scale playing card, inspired from the title 'better half'.
Rhinoceros, sketch
Rhinoceros sketch, 100x122cm. Inspired by Ibsen's play, created by layering a multitude of men in various positions to create the beast.
Albrecht Durer, Rhinoceros
Durer's class block print helped me get the basic structure for my giant animal tapestry plan.
Rhinoceros Tapestry maquette and in process work
I am currently in the process of working from a smaller maquette to design the rhinoceros made of men on a large piece of muslin.
Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper_1
'I never saw a worse paper in my life. One of those sprawling, flamboyant patterns comitting every artistic sin.' Digital sketch, single tile to be repeated as wallpaper pattern. All of the wallpaper pieces were originally inspired by the short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892.
Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper_1 (quad design)
'It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study...' Digital Sketch, quad of 'Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper' design. My wallpaper pieces were originally inspired by the short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892.
Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper_3 (quad design)
'...and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance, they suddenly commit suicide - plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.' Digital Sketch, quad of another possible version of 'Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper' design. My wallpaper pieces were originally inspired by the short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892.
Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper_2 Floating
'I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that pointless pattern to some sort of conclusion.' Digital Sketch, another possibility for a 'Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper' design. In this one, the woman is floating away through a design of levitating women. My wallpaper pieces were originally inspired by the short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892.
Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper_1 in progress
Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper painting (in progress), 30 X 40 cm, ink, pencil and gesso on paper
Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper_1 in progress
'The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering, unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is a dull, lurid orange in some places, a sticky sulfur in others.' Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper painting (detail of continued progress), 30 X 40 cm, ink, pencil and gesso on paper
Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper_Painting
'By daylight she is subdued, quiet, it is the pattern that keeps her so still. It's so puzzling, it keeps me quiet by the hour....' Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper painting (complete), 30 X 40 cm, ink, pencil and gesso on paper
Digital Wallpaper Prototype: Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper
'At night, in any kind of light, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman is behind it as plain as can be.' Digital print for wallpaper or tapestry: Homage to the Yellow Wallpaper
Fallen Fleshy Woman
Ink and pencil on paper, 30x40cm
Fleshy X Wallpaper - set of 4
Digital print, prototype plans for textile print
Fleshy X Wallpaper Design
'There are things in the paper nobody knows but me, or ever will. The same shape, very numerous, it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about, behind that pattern.' Digital print, prototype plans for large scale textile print (could be fabric to cover chairs, or wallpaper)
Leap Frog Wallpaper Sketch
Pencil sketch, 24x30cm
Leap Frog Tapestry Detail
Detail of hanging tapestry: Digital print on cotton (120x240cm)
Leap Frog Tapestry Detail
Detail of hanging tapestry: Digital print on cotton (120x240cm)
Leap Frog Tapestry
Hanging tapestry: Digital print on cotton (120x240cm). It was helpful to have a local exhibition opportunity to display this prototype.
The Split
At the outset of this project, fully in the throes of PTSD myself, I experienced a fertile subconscious flow of images, from which a pile of titles for works of art emerged. These words that were quickly jotted down to capture an elusive state of mind have begun to evolve into drawings and mixed media works. They comprise allegorical illustrations of out of body experiences, and the replication of figures, that become a graphic decor to embellish the house of the lost spirit.
For the Streamers Project, I will choose titles from the cache I created and draw the story out, using the interacting figures on range of media: paper, fabric, and working towards the installation of domestic items like wall paper and lampshades. Ultimately I hope to arrange an exhibition locally, together with social services organisations, to raise awareness of the prevalence of psychological abuse within the tapestry of domestic violence. UPDATE on December 6th: I have arranged with social services of a city outside of Palma de Mallorca to exhibit a selection of this series and to hold several talks with local adolescents about how the work addresses abuse.
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