Artist’s Statement

Temporally, my practice is framed within the context of the proposed current epoch of geological time, the Anthropocene, which is defined by humanity's long-term impact on the strata record. My artwork requires that we imagine ourselves as inhabitants not just of the present or a human lifetime or generation, but also of deep-time – the dizzyingly profound eras of Earth’s history that extend both behind and ahead of the present. Different temporalities interact as does the real and imagined. Human-caused cataclysmic events are positioned within the context of recurring planetary and cosmic cataclysmic events in order to question how long our species will live with respect to deep-time.

Politically, the advent and expansion of the Anthropocene forms a nexus from which to investigate examples of the present-apocalypse including events, people and places affected by ecological devastation, climate change or which have been abandoned and left to decay and become overgrown with nature as a result of war, nuclear devastation and natural disasters. For me abandoned places suggest that the way we live, what we leave behind and the kind of ecological disasters we produce are all part of the same topic. The artworks reflect on the complex cross-weaves of vulnerability, culpability, hope and despair that exist between us and other species, as well as between humans now and humans to come.

Conceptually, researching the present-apocalypse has allowed me to visually express the different ways humanity could find their end through nuclear annihilation, climate change and cosmic forces when constructing a post-apocalyptic worldview. The viewer is encouraged to consider whether the future is set and nature as it has evolved over eons has been altered by humans to the point of being fated to end, leaving nothing but us. Or could there instead be a reversal in which we don’t leave the world post-natural and the world we have altered destroys us, leaving us post-human.

Visually, the modular paintings form constellations which integrate with each other, oscillating between the micro-planetary and the macro-cosmic as well as representation and abstraction, creating portals which suck you into the void and repel you out with illusionary detail. My paintings are constructed from layers of oil, egg tempera and graphite which are partially eroded through sanding and engraving. This process is a combination of spontaneous mark making and considered detail which within the context of my subject signifies the excavation of layers of earth and time, revealing an archaeology of time, lost narratives and social collapse. When viewed collectively, the works form a complex web of signification, where bursts of detail, colour and abstract forms emerge from the distant past and reach into faraway future capturing the complexities of time, nature and culture in the Anthropocene age and a cosmic perspective with no endings or beginnings.