Artist statement

I draw constantly: on public transport, at work and while spending time with family and friends. I draw people I know as well as strangers, paying attention to faces, postures and the objects around them. These observations accumulate in my memory and later find their way into paintings.

Unlike the drawings, the paintings are not made directly from observation. I usually begin without knowing what the image will be. Random marks suggest figures, animals or faces, which emerge and disappear as I work. I paint over them, wipe them away, glaze the surface and sometimes turn the canvas upside down. An image may change many times before it begins to hold together.

When a painting becomes stuck, I cover it with a thin glaze. This partially obscures what came before without completely erasing it. Traces remain beneath the new surface, giving me something to respond to. I am interested in this point between losing an image and finding another one.

Recent paintings often contain animals with awkwardly human expressions. They appear anxious, watchful, tender, foolish or defiant. I am not illustrating particular stories or emotions; I allow the character of each figure to develop through the process of painting.

The finished works retain evidence of their earlier states. Familiar forms remain unstable, hovering between animal and human, observed and imagined, comic and unsettling.