About

 

Biography

Central to my practice, and in common with the canon of Australian artmaking, is the telling of a narrative and a journey of self-discovery.

Generally speaking, my narratives are literary and anchored by my long-held belief in a human, collective consciousness. Narratives surrounding my 3D work can develop significantly over time, or over the course of consecutive exhibitions. The capacity for my art to continue developing a story allows the work to remain current. I rarely work abstractly.

My studio practice involves having a number of simultaneous projects on the go. This method of working keeps me fully occupied and the artworks benefit from the interplay of ideas. The elements of Art I favour are those concerned with surface, such as pattern and texture and, structurally speaking, shape and form and volume. Like a length of chain, I believe an Artist’s creative output is indivisibly linked right back to the first works they ever made. Conversely, each newly completed work will suggest to the Artist a new link or what to do next. I find this allows for a well-grounded yet constantly evolving creativity.

As a sculptor I love to both build and carve. These two opposing methods of art-making necessarily result in a diverse visual oeuvre. I find it is the same with printmaking. Each print medium lends itself to a particular content. I cannot help myself here, I can’t be an Artist restricted to one genre of image or one type of form. Fortunately, Artists need not be limited by that imposition these days.

As with most Artists, exhibiting is of great importance. Just as a play should be performed to an audience and a musical score needs to be heard, so too does Art deserve to be witnessed by others in order to be fully realised. In an exhibition the Artist’s vision can engage the spectator in conversation.
Ultimately for me, making Art is a sincere attempt to find out more about myself and my place in the world. The best Art I make is that which tells me something I did not know beforehand. Goethe said “To get value from the world, one has to give the world value”, meaning that in all things there needs to be an exchange. Making Art is my part of that bargain.

Education

MA Printmaking, (Cork St Prize) Brighton Polytechnic, UK.
BA (hons) Sculpture, GLOSCAT, UK.
BA English Literature, Sydney University.
PGCE Librarianship, Sydney teachers College.

Exhibitions

1994 Islington International Art Fair. London, UK.
1994 Linocuts, Jane England Gallery, London, UK.
1995 Islington International Art fair, London, UK.
1998 KISS. Screen Prints, Fitzroy Gallery, Melbourne.
2001 Recent Drawings, Chisolm TAFE, Melbourne.
2001 Prints and small Sculptures, Spitalfields Gallery, London, UK.
2007 Broken Hill Outback Art Prize exhibition. Broken Hill Art Gallery
2008 Being There, Photographs. Horsham Art Gallery
2009 Drawings and Sculpture. Caravan Art Space Richmond
2010 Guest Artist. Prints, Drawings and Sculpture. Warracknabeal Y fest.
2010 Toorak Village Sculpture exhibition. Melbourne.
2010 Brunswick Street Gallery Works on Paper. Highly commended.
2010 St.Michael’s Archangel Prize. Melbourne, Winner, people’s choice.
2011 Dialogue Exhibition. Gasworks, Melbourne.
2011 Group Show. Argyle Artist run space. Port Melbourne.
2012 Toorak Village Sculpture exhibition. Winner non-acquisitive $10K prize.
2012 Melbourne Sculpture Prize.
2012 John Fries Memorial Prize. Sydney.
2012-13 Brave New World Sculpture. Toyota Community Spirit Gallery. Melbourne.
2013 Backyard Archaeology, Sculpture & prints. Brighton Arts & Cultural Centre
2013 All Creatures Great and Small, Toyota Corporate Headquarters, Melbourne
2014 Toorak Village Sculpture Exhibition, Melbourne.
2014 Artist’s for the Tarkine, Brightspace St.Kilda, Melbourne.
2014 The Great Mandala. Victorian Sculptors at Toyota Corporate Headquarters, Melbourne
2015 Sagra Gallery Opening Show, Sagra Gallery, Malvern, Melbourne.
2015 Sagra Gallery Group Show, Sagra Gallery, Malvern, Melbourne.
2017 St. Kilda Art Crawl, 33 Fitzroy St, Melbourne.
2017 Me Human. The Gallery, St. Kilda Town Hall, Melbourne
2018 Four recent sculptures, The Alex Theatre, The George, St.Kilda.
2018 Shakespeare Grove Artists Group, Carlisle Artspace, St Kilda.
2018 St. Kilda Art Crawl, GAS pop up, Fitzroy St, St. Kilda.
2018 Print as Process, Incinerator Art Gallery, Moonee Ponds.
2018 Art in the vines, Sculpture. Hanging Rock Winery, Hanging Rock, Vic.
2019 Toorak Village Sculpture Prize, Melbourne.
2019 Selected Works. Shakespeare Grove Artists Group, Carlisle Artspace, St Kilda.
2019 Australian Anubis, four bronze sculptures, Bayside Gallery, Brighton, Victoria.
2019 Sculpture in Motion. Hanging Rock Winery, Hanging Rock, Vic
2020 City of Port Phillip Acquisition.
2020 AKC collection, St. Kilda.
2020 Renaissance. Hanging Rock Winery, Hanging Rock, Vic
2021 Gippsland Sculpture Exhibition, Vic.
2021 BIG Sculpture presents SMALL works, One Star Lounge and Gallery.
2021 Hanging Rock Winery Annual Sculpture Exhibition.

Art Industry

July 2021 Upstanders Project, City of Bayside.
July 2021 Judge. 2021 Young People of Bayside Art Exhibition
April 2021 Judge. Toorak Sculpture Prize
July 2020-2021 Lenton Parr Sculpture residency, Billilla Mansion, City of Bayside
2017-2020 SGAS Sculptor in residence and artist representative to Council of Port Phillip.
2019 Founder/Curator, BIG Sculpture Biennale at VegOut, St. Kilda.
2020/21 Recipient CoPP grant, BIG Sculpture Windows. St.Kilda.
2016- present. Co-Founder Sunshine Print Artspace, an NFP open access print studio in West Melbourne.
2018 Curator St Kilda Art Crawl, Punchinello Pop Up Art Exhibition.
2018 Art Competition Judge, City of Kingston.
2018 Print tutor, Intergenerational Poetry and Print, City of Kingston
2017-2020 Committee Member St Kilda Arts Community.
2017 Selection Panel Bayside Arts.
2002- 2018 Art Teacher and HOD Arts and Technology (12 yrs) Brighton Secondary College.
VIT registered.

Teaching / Mentoring