Maternal

Obviously alot of people may see sexual connotations in these images. But this was not the intention as I feel I need to highlight for my work overall. I decided to put these things together because i have been using both meat and nightgowns separately to explore sensuality. After the influence of Helen Chadwick i have combined the two and think the sensuality is heightened even further, bringing out other ideas; particularly for me the evocation of a kind of maternal feeling. I think the photos are rather beautiful and mix two very strongly symbolic objects; the heart symbolises life, bringing it outside the body tranforms this into an idea of past life, memory and vulnerability. And these ideas are nestled within an ultra feminine object, sexualised but also comforting, making the overall effect beautiful, but also repulsive i suppose. These images also tackle the ideas of hollow skins that i have previously been concerned with looking at nightgowns and plasters. The heart set within this ornamental skin lends a new life and also nostalgia to the images. I also feel, like with the plasters, that there is a child-like feel here, perhaps stemming from the idea of maternity i think these photos convey, and from the naivety of putting two symbolic objetcts together. i like having this child-like sense to my work and its something i'm going to try to more wittingly create.

My First Meating

Random Thoughts

After thinking about why these nightgowns and my previous photos of plasters intrigue me, I've decided that perhaps I am more pre-occupied with the idea of the flesh than I have previously been willing to admit to. It is still not the sexual connotation, and not the flesh itself but the plasters and fabric as an imitation of flesh; almost a representation to immediately disguise the reality. They are a second skin for us to wear to cover up the truth of our physical bodies. It's like my drawing style; make it smoother, make it flow better, cover up the bruises and scars, and you can create an air-brushed world which is so enticing to live in. Maybe that is the importance of sensuality in my work, or at least the importance of these objects; its the abstract 'stuff' you see and sense in, them but also the idea that they are not the truth but mere hollow skins.

The meat too fits in with this, because it is like what's underneath the skin; this oozing, yearning 'meaty stuff' which is essentially what humans are. But in markets, in butchers its peeled back.
I think it would be a really interesting idea to do a video of me encountering and examining a piece of meat for the first time. Not just as a vegetarian examining a type of food i have no experience of, but as a person really looking at something that used to be alive, and exploring the form of something that i think to look at, is so sensual, and onomatopoeic (in a visual way).

Current Studio Practice- Fabric

Current Studio Practice- Drawings and Prints

Current Studio Practice- Paintings

Getting Plastered

I started to think about objects, other than meat, that have sensual qualities. Previously i've thought about fabric but i'd like it to have another element. I like the idea of using plasters because it introduces connotations of childhood and memory, but at the same time they stand alone as strange little still lives of simple twists of fabric.

Meat Market

Previous Work (Pre-September 09)

My work has always been concerned with sensual forms, as is evident when reflecting on the body of work previous to my current practice. This painting was part of a portrait project, but I now see it as an exploration of the kind of forms that i want to capture in my work. There are no critical ideas behind it and yet the sensual nature of these forms seem to speak for themselves.

Ink, perhaps better than painting, lends itself to this type of representation and always been an obsession of mine.

I have also previously been concerned with illustration and the amalgamation of text and image. Another former project was based upon the stories that other people wrote for me. I created a book of these stories accompanied with ink illustrations which I feel were more self-indulgent than successful. During this same project, it was the first time I explored using physical objects themselves. I posted these stories into bottles i had collected using the 'message in a bottle' format. I also tried to subvert this idea by writing the stories on the surface of bottles. The use of objects and considering the ordinary in an extraordinary way is something that is currently emerging in my practice. Though still relatively unexplored in my work, the use of stories is also a pathway i intend to follow in the future.