Statement

​My work is concerned with the manner in which women are portrayed in all forms of artistic
and commercial representation in both the past and present.
While acknowledging the allure and seductive qualities of many of these portrayals, it is my intention
to avert the viewer’s gaze from these images towards the underlying manipulation and self interest
which permeate female representations. My artworks investigate the female image beyond the
superficial while challenging pre-conceived notions of what is presented, what is permitted and what
it might mean in a wider cultural context.
As a point of departure for my work, I gather source material from pre-existing everyday public media
containing symbols of desire, the aesthetic past and our collective memory. The everyday vernacular of
​ popular culture (both recent and historic) form the basis of a form of 'hyperreality' in my paintings and drawings,
combining narrative images to express observations and concerns arising from contemporary society.  
​