ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Throughout my work there is a sense of a deep, intimate connection with the natural environment and its never-ending cycle of life, death and rebirth. Rooted in both natural history and philosophy, my work examines processes of decay and liminality as sites of transformation.
The intimate views and fragile nature of my subjects create contemplative works instigating mediation between presence and absence; the known and the unknown; beauty and aversion and ultimately between life and death. It is from dwelling in those in-betweens, that new possibilities emerge.
My choice of subjects reflects my desire to challenge our disconnect with the physical natural world and to show life as it really is: decay, entropy and chaos are quotidian but there can be a hidden beauty, revealed to those prepared to stop and look. However, in painting these close encounters I reveal something of my own vulnerability, an uncomfortableness of being in my own skin, and yet, I continue to do it anyway.
BIOGRAPHY
b. 1969 Oxford, UK
I grew up in Norwich then studied Zoology at the University of Leeds (1994) followed by a Ph.D in Biomechanics (1998). During that time I took up life-drawing as a way of learning anatomy. I was quickly hooked with a love of drawing the human form, eventually holding my first exhibition 'Uncovered' in 2008. I left academia in 2o10 to care for my young family of three children. This also gave me the opportunity me to take up painting and embark on my artistic journey, including studying for a painting degree with the Open College of the Arts.
Much of my art practice has grown out of my scientific interest in biological materials and the processes by which they change. I am a self-confessed natural history hoarder, and I often work with found forms I encounter in my surroundings. My studio is full of 'natural stuff' that has, usually through form or texture, caught my attention in some way and compelled me to carry it home. These forms continue to inspire and inform my practice.
I live with my family in the North Cotswolds. My studio is in an old, leaky diary unit which I occasionally open up for visitors!
C. V.
Selected Group Shows
2025 Emerging Narratives, The Gallery at the Guild, Chipping Campden
2024 Pop up exhibition, Little Village Hall, Blockley
2024 Nature's Alchemy, The Gallery at the Guild, Chipping Campden
2023 Warwickshire Open Studios
2023/4 Opel Fine Art, Stratford-upon-Avon
2022 The Gallery at the Guild, Chipping Campden
2022 Warwickshire Open Studios
2008 Uncovered, Paula-Jayne Gallery, Chipping Campden