SiteSeer Installation (detail) Art Gallery of Northumberland, 2022
SiteSeer Installation (detail) Art Gallery of Northumberland, 2022
My work contains and combines drawing, painting, sculpture and puppetry, each discipline blending with and influencing the other in new and exciting ways. Materials such as papier mache, paperclay, painted textiles, embroidery, and soft painted shapes, in addition to more traditional graphite pencil, ink and watercolour, are used to realize unusual creatures and odd landscapes.
Protection, play and watchfulness are recurrent themes in my 2D and 3D pieces. When working in puppet making, I think about ornamentation, distraction and anonymity: all the ways we protect ourselves and others. Most often puppets are seen as entertainment, but when looked at through the lens of protection, there is much food for thought there. Puppets do and say things we are not normally free to do and say.
I currently live and work in the town of Port Hope, Ontario and am originally from Chatham, Ontario. I have a studio in what used to be our dining room. My husband is also a visual artist, though he is much more embedded in the digital realm. Our son is certain he will not pursue an art career, saying he prefers engineering over art making. We say never say never...