Having spent the first ten years of my life in the Netherlands, my Northern European heritage has played a significant role in the imagery of my art. The paintings, in this exhibition, reflect the influence of changing places and spaces in my life as I experience the dual influences of the culture of Europe and Australia. These changes have strongly influenced my view of the world.

Central to the imagery of the paintings is the existence of a figurative form confined or set in an interior space. The relationship of the figure to the space in which it is positioned explores the complexity of the figure suspended between two worlds.

In the paintings an interior space has been created which frames the figurative form. Viewing an interior space from outside the frame invites the observer to engage with the imagery of the painting.

These paintings explore the relationship between the figure in space in a very unconventional and contemporary fashion. Conceptually, the paintings have been influenced by the painters of ‘interiors’ such as Van Eyck, Vermeer, and De Hooch, as well as 20th century artists from the surrealist movement such as Magritte.

In all of the paintings there is a very strong emphasis on the technical application of the medium. A variety of techniques have been used, depending on the desired surface finish and overall effect. In most cases the paint has been applied in extremely thin glazes, to take advantage of the translucency of oil paint, whilst still retraining the effect of the brush strokes.

To add to the vibrancy of the paintings, no white has been used in various parts, notably the figurative form, allowing the white of the canvas to show through the painted surface. In addition, the colours have in some cases been constructed using the components of the colour rather than the colour itself, not unlike the effect of the pointillist painters of the 19th century.