Premio Combat Prize

Artist’s statement.
Life for me is a rich and magical kaleidoscope of visual input; I see beauty, form, texture everywhere. I love all nature; flowers, plants, all things natural, especially the way nature works with and around the man made, seemingly unconcerned. For example an old discarded metal bed base, with tall grasses and other plants growing through the springs; the way both are juxtaposed but co-exist in harmony.
I am passionate about life; I see all things like a child sees; taking delight in everything. I am fascinated with the serendipitous; the wonderful way that life unfolds, how seemingly insignificant things can often lead to something magical, incredible, even life-changing.
On the photography front I work extensively with found objects; seeing their symbolism and experiencing what they evoke in me; on-going art therapy. When filming and taking photographs (as in all my creative endeavours) I am fully present in the now moment, which feels to me like a meditation. I work with anything that catches my eye and holds deep hidden symbolism on the psychological, emotional and spiritual levels. Everything however seemingly trivial, holds deep significance for me.
I am also interested in documentary filming; portraying the quirky, humourous and hilarious in everyday life, peoples stories, their passions. I Love to capture this in my work as well as the glaring imbalances in societal trends, mores and prejudices, the marginalised in society for example, people living without homes, this is a subject very close to my heart.
My painting is autobiographical; I paint my life. When painting I am emotionally expressive and work intuitively, spontaneously and experimentally. I find this is the best way to work, completely devoid of all conscious thought. I use all available objects as ”tools” during this creative process and am totally immersed in it. I go into an altered state whenever I’m doing anything creative and am completely absorbed in the act of creative expression.
When in this space I feel that this is what I’m really here for, this is fully living; in the flow, in the zone. For me, ”To live is to create”.
I have had many weird and wonderful reactions to my work over the years and even though some have seemed negative at the time, on reflection I’m happy that my work is doing it’s job; offering opportunities for reflection, healing, evolving; transforming.
Some people say they don’t understand my work, I consider this to be a modern day dilemma; if we don’t understand something we may put up barriers against it and then the opportunities to go beyond may be lost. My work is an invitation to push through any self created barriers to expansion, to go beyond thinking and explore what’s beneath.