ARTIST STATEMENT

Pulp: paper (from wood), being the majority medium of which collage work is made.

“I see the medium of paper as a very versatile material. Its properties and uses seem endless in variety. It is also a very simple medium to work with.”

Fiction:
- untrue statement: something that is untrue and has been made up to deceive people
- LAW something assumed to be true: something that is assumed in law to be true regardless of whether or not it is really true

“My work is based predominantly on the very simple artistic drive to create attractive images. In the same way that often a fictional piece of writing is simply presenting an attractive or engaging story based on pure passion for the medium or genre.

But by using strong visual dynamics, there is another underlying motivation to present a reflection of the world in which we inhabit.”

Off-kilter combinations and relationships between images and elements within the work creates a visual stage upon which fantasy or fiction is presented. This dream-like stage is largely a reflection of what we perceive as reality. Not only that which is tangible and material in our three dimensional physicality, but also that which society perceives as being of utmost importance in the progression our lives.

Elements of fantasy are evident in the collaged mainstream press cuttings themselves. For example, the dream home, ideal suburbia, the ideal career or job (requires suit and tie). Or our so called superior technological developments in transport and machinery. All are fictions propagated and proliferated through out modern society. This fiction is emphasized through the arbitrary glamorization of consumer products, fossil fuelled transport and further underdeveloped technology which races ahead of our spiritual and physical evolution. It is a reflection of the manufactured dependence we hinge on our so called modern development and the illusive attachment we have to material things.

In a way, the recycling of images and paper in the collage work is a reflection of the recycling process which occurs in every arbitrary facet of modern society - the recycling of lifestyle choices, self image, fashion, entertainments, technology and especially the educational system and curriculum.

By juxtaposing positive and negative space, light and dark areas, smooth and rough surfaces and straight and curved edges, the canvas or stage is occupied with strong dynamism. A prominent theme of contrast or division is created - much like the division which has been allowed to manifest and become evident in every aspect of our world.