EVERYDAY ARTIST

During my working life, I have been surrounded by the creative practices of theatre makers who have shown me that the ordinary, everyday things that surround us can be beautiful; that they are worth examining and celebrating.

Inspired by theatrical set design, my practice has begun to focus on assemblage, using found objects to curate a scene. Often, one key object provokes an idea from which the rest of the assembly grows, leading me to themes and concepts that the other components will reinforce. Through this process, I create pieces that are recreations of everyday scenes, displacing them from the spaces which they might blend into and highlighting the qualities that I believe can be found in them.

When creating my work, I have a strong preference for analogue processes, and will often try to use older technology like cassette tape recorders when the need for such things arises. This is informed by a philosophy of disengagement from digital methodology as I believe that the imperfections that stem from the real world are an important part of the human experience. My work attempts to act in opposition to the clean, neat, corporate perfection that has become the default standard for much of that with which we interact on a daily basis.

My practice has been informed by artists like Mark Dion, whose use of assemblage often creates narrative scenes, and Mike Nelson, who creates large scale explorable installations. Works by these artists have inspired me to create work which leans on found objects to form storytelling scenes which discuss the things that I am interested in.