Once, a very pious Muslim man told me his description of the wonder of the universe. He began by talking of the stars shining in the dark night sky (making big arm gestures) and moved on through distance and scale to a description of mountains, deserts, and seas (less extravagant movements of the arms), then birds, fish, animals (small hand gestures, now) and came to people, the pores in their skin, individual cells and finally, chemical elements (moving his finger tips across his palm). I was enchanted and, though I am not religious, I know that making and experiencing art has much the same sense of awe, scale and wonder.
The exhibition title, Between the Sky and the Flower, is supposed to suggest mystery and beauty, vast and small.
Also, skies and flowers feature prominently in this exhibition.
All the ideas in my work originate in my sketchbooks which I carry with me everywhere. I respond to the emotional electricity of the scene in front of me through drawing. Everything affects how the drawing turns out - the wind, the temperature, the dust, the noises of traffic, people passing by. I particularly enjoy making black marks on white paper and I want these marks to be charged with the energy I feel radiating from my subject.
Painting is about working on an image until I find my own angle. In attempting to express as clearly as I can the feeling I have for the subject, some distortion in shape and colour comes about. I am neither interested in distortion for its own sake nor in a photographic type of accuracy.
I work with many media. Each medium has its own qualities. When everything comes together, the medium expresses itself and makes the work for me - I am merely the person pushing the brush around.
Exhibitor Information
