In ‘Open’ a series of watercolour on paper, you see built-up layers of irregular transparent shapes. These abstract pieces were painted over many sessions, leaving each layer to dry then responding to the layer underneath. Often parts of the painting become blurred and the layers themselves lose definition, many forming a whole. The colour in each piece becomes important building references to known things such as the sky or water in the blue pieces and for me, the red pieces reference blood, love, and loss.

I love the way each painted shape is never uniform and that in seeking a perfect paint mark I find that accepting a wonky shape is perfect as it is, all paint marks are imperfectly perfect. In this series, I’ve allowed myself to open to my urges to go inward and I’ve chosen to frame this in a positive light rather than fall into the negativity I sometimes hear about introversion and spending time alone.

Fuck that, I’m open to it.

This is the first release from my investigations into an investigative series I’ve titled ‘Islands of Mine’ these pieces are me searching, me seeking inward for solitude and quiet. An attempt to gain some understanding of the need I feel at times to isolate and create my own ‘island’ A need to communicate to others how confusing and annoying it is to not be understood and not understand others. So I’ll make ‘islands’ of my own to comfort myself.