Artist Statement

 My current practice is based on shape and process, using mainly textiles and print media. Femininity and the female form is the source of inspiration for the numerous shapes and mark making techniques that are present in current works.

Through looking at abstract expressionism, techniques that are considered ‘manly’ dominate the movement, such examples are large expressive motions with the hands and/or body and using phallic shaped objects such as the paintbrush. My work tries to overcome these actions by creating abstract marks using delicate ‘feminine’ movements and to avoid using phallic objects and instead using print techniques and textile arrangements.

My work pushes a number of different processes that could be likened to the monotonous tasks stereotypically carried out by a women, for example washing dishes or vacuuming. By creating works through this way, it feels like the artist is empathizing and better understanding the hardship many women had to go through at the beginning of the last century. The aesthetics of the work, however, can be likened to current issues associated with the modern female form. The media and consumerist society we live in today warps the way females are viewed, who are often portrayed as submissive and present only for the male gaze.  My work aims to combine these stereotypical views on feminism, past and present, and hopes to raise these issues in the viewer’s mind through the strong, bold lines of my prints, and the distorted, yet beautiful visual landscapes of my textile pieces.

Certain pieces of my work bear a strong resemblance to aerial images of geographical landscapes. In turn this can be read using feminine qualities of a map, such as topography and contour lines, to express the natural female form. My prints are printed onto newsprint again to reinforce the idea of current media views and expectations depicted in newspapers and magazines, more often than not aimed at the female population, created by consumerist companies taking advantage of some women’s insecurities about body image in order to sell their products.