“I cannot remember a time in my life that I wasn’t driven to create; it was my first and greatest passion. It’s my way of exploring, making sense of and reflecting on the world. Allowing myself the time to notice minutiae and a humble realisation of the magnificence of nature combined with imagination. Connection to the natural world remains a big feature of my artwork both as a source of awe and beauty and also as a stimulus for the imagination. I am also fascinated by how human beings have tried to make sense of the universe and of our place in it over the millennia, so folk tales and mythology are a huge source of inspiration. Wherever possible, I use recycled or reclaimed materials to collage and layer into my artwork. The range of media used gives the work an unusual surface texture and hidden information layered into the work is revealed upon closer inspection. The source of these materials is important to me and there is always significance to the found objects woven into the surface, whether it’s a napkin from a restaurant where my ideas were initially sketched out, fabric from clothing I wore in the place or the earth from the ground mixed into the paint, these are all woven. Sometimes these items become completely obliterated with paint, other times they become a prominent feature of the work.”