December 2009 Artist of the Month

When did art become a significant part of your life?

During my time in boarding school at East Sussex, England I was exposed to a very strong art department and started exploring my creativity. I then went on to study at Parsons in New York. This experience was the best quality education I could imagine. Parsons worked on making us academic and then artists.

Who are your major influences and how have they influenced your work?

I was always fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci’s scientific approach to the facts of life and the body. He made the connection of muscle movement and machinery and specifically I admire his study of the bird’s muscle movement with flight and invented drafts of flying machines. Georgia O’Keeffe’s art also had a great impact on me, during a period of time I focused on shapes and leafy organic lines. I then studied at Central Saint Martin’s in London for a period of 10 years, focusing on the psychological effect colour has on human emotion. Mark Rothko was a very big influence at this time. I learned that once you take away all line and form and deal with minimal abstract colour fields you really have to understand what you’re communicating.

What is your next move?

I will travel to see a show by Gunther von Hagens called Body Works. He has developed a technique called Plastination that preserves human tissues, organs and the body. When humans do anything physically, mentally or emotionally on a repetitive basis it will have an effect on the body. Hagens cuts the body in half and shows what happens on the inside. I am studying quantum psychics and I will incorporate what I learn from this experience in my work.

What other interests and influences do you surround yourself with on a daily bases?

All my free time and sports activities are spent in, on and around the water. The colour of our ocean and scenery plays a huge role in influencing my artwork. I am currently a pilates instructor and weights trainer, this has helped me to learn and observe how the body moves day to day. My art shows my curiosity of the body physically and mentally and how our surrounding colours influence our emotions.

If you could give advice to an artist just starting out what would it be?

Make things, the more you do it the better you will be. Humans evolve and so does talent. Artists in history have horrific stories. Mark Rothko slit his wrists and was found in a pool of his own blood because he had depression and Van Gogh cut his ear off. These are psychological disorders. Artists have a reputation for thinking differently but if they improve their communication skills (their art) they don’t become an island. Artists regurgitate their thoughts because of the processes necessary to make their art so it is important for young people to stay balanced. They don’t have to be crazy to create. An all-rounded curious mind that explores life makes just as good art!