Qualifications Higher Diploma Slade Schools
Department Art
Position Senior Lecturer Fine Art
Research Group Fine Art
Since graduating from the Slade I have taught at a number of Universities - currently University of Lincoln - in a variety of part-time roles at both degree and postgraduate level. At the same time I have continued to practice as a painter, working from my studio in Lincoln and at residency programmes abroad.
Most of my recent experience as a visual artist and through teaching has been
concerned with the practice of, or conceptual basis for drawing. Through my own
work in the studio, and arising from the connections I make here and abroad, I
aim to focus attention on the nature of drawing. I believe that drawing is a
broad, not a narrow discipline that can be instinctive and visceral, but also
intellectual, multi disciplinary and concerned with solving problems. As Ingres
said it, “drawing is the probity of art.”
Recent Work
Tyler School of Art
In October 2004 I showed a series of drawings at Tyler School of Art in
Philadelphia. While there I gave a slide talk and taught undergraduates and post
graduates on the Fine Art programme. My show included an illustrated catalogue,
with an introduction by Janet Passehl. Janet is an American artist who, in
addition to making her own work, curates Sol LeWitt’s collection.
Ballinglen Foundation
In June 2004 I was artist in residence at the Ballinglen Foundation in the
Republic of Ireland. This was my second visit - my first time there was in the
summer of 1999. The purpose of my residency was to make a series of vertiginous
images looking down into spaces and out to the horizon on the remote cliffs of
County Mayo. My residency was supported by an award from Arts Council England.
Exhibit E, European Art in Washington DC
In June 2003 I was selected to take part in Exhibit E. This was a series of
exhibitions by European artists in Washington DC. A number of Galleries in the
Dupont Circle area of the city showed work be artists from Holland France,
Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Germany and the UK. My exhibition, the only show by a
UK artist, was supported by the British Council and the European Union. The
illustrated catalogue accompanying the exhibition was reviewed in the Washington
Post.
Group Shows
Aaron Gallery in Washington DC – 2003, 2004, 2005,
Ballinglen Foundation in the Republic of Ireland – 2001, 2003, 2005
Virginia Centre for the Creative Arts
In September 2002 I worked as artist in residence at the Virginia Centre for the
Creative Arts. During this time I produced a body of work using the verdant and
abundant vegetation of West Virginia as subject for a series of dense and
rhythmic paintings and drawings.
As a direct result of my residency I taught at American University in Washington
DC and on my return I wrote a piece for AN Magazine about arts residencies
abroad.
Current Research
My research takes the form of work I produce in the studio, exhibitions of that work and ideas that arise and are disseminated through catalogues and written pieces. Currently I am interested in working abroad as well as in my studio here in Lincoln. I have worked as artist in residence at the Ballinglen Foundation, Vermont Studio Centre and the Virginia Centre for the Creative Arts, I have been invited to return there later this year. The connections I make at residencies are with other artists or academics.
I am interested in how we see, and how the visible world can form the basis
for drawn images. Drawing has been a constant in my work; it underpins and
informs my painting. Increasingly I see drawing as a means of making a
connection in a specific way with the visible world. It is an act of
contemplation; drawing takes time and contains time. My drawings have become
concerned with reconciling the presence, mass and weight of the subject with the
passing of time. I am interested in the notion of drawing as time based,
containing time piled up in layers like rock strata – unlike film and other more
linear time based media.
Images of Work