about me

I am a 21 year older drawer, painter and sculptor based in London/Southend-on-Sea. 

Monotonous everyday life is clouded by constant social performance. My work exaggerates these performances using simple papier-mâché techniques to create garish masks that reflect on the clothes we wear in everyday life,  depicting animals and recognizable characters. I use these masks to draw and paint from, they are then transformed into full idealised costumes that cover more of the body, creating second skins that either cling to or balloon from the person or people underneath. The concept of a costume both obscures and reveals a person's identity. It can physically conceal emotion, vulnerability, and authenticity while narrating these elements conceptually. 

I aim to explore the relentless commodification of self-expression. This includes how we are coerced to present ourselves in uniforms and encouraged to express ourselves with costumes in instances such as carnivals, fancy dress parties, and theatre.  

By putting humans in animal costumes, I hope to undermine the notion of human superiority. This highlights the simplicity with which we generalise animals versus the complexity we attribute to humans. My work creates tension between humanist concepts of individuality and expression through costumes and the posthumanist critique of human exceptionalism. This fuels my visual language of absurdity and surrealism. 

In my paintings the non-linear storytelling is driven by anecdotal observations of contemporary urban life. Reflecting on its complexity and interconnectedness. In particular the motif of a pigeon uses humour and irony to comment on social behaviours and environmental issues. By comparing human interactions to those of pigeons I point out issues of social responsibility and community.

Group Exhibitions

City and Guilds of London Art School Degree Show - London 2024

From the Studio - Symes Mews , London 2023

Impressions - Ugly Duck , London 2022

Relay - Focal Point Gallery , Southend-on-Sea 2021

Education

City and Guilds of London Art School - BA Fine Art 2021- 2024

Royal Drawing School - Foundation Diploma 2020 - 2021

Scholarships

Royal Drawing School Foundation Year Scholarship

Idun Ravndal Legacy Scholarship

Publications

A.n Degree Shows Guide 2024