I am a maker. With my art I tell stories. About the world I live in, about the things I see and feel, about issues that need addressing. Occasionally, a piece is just a piece, an observation, an attempt to represent. Most of my pieces however are a comment, an appeal. They come in various shapes and forms. As a realist I know that given my status of a - to the vast majority of the world - unknown artist, my pieces and comments will only be a small puff of smoke, noticed by a few in my immediate vicinity. As an optimist, I hope that one day this will change, that more people will see my art or even feel encouraged to critically reflect about an attitude they hold or a way how they behave. As an artist I don’t really give a damn: I make because I cannot help it. My art keeps me alive. I live through my art and my art lives through me.
I am a keen learner. I love challenging myself and acquiring new skills. By doing so I can choose the best medium from a big pool of skills to express and idea or to bring a message to my audience. Out of all the various techniques and methods I’ve acquired over the past years, I love working in 3D the most. In particular, I enjoy sculpting with polymer clay (Fimo). I also use found objects, wood, traditional clay or fabric. In 2019 I experimented in 4D for the first time and made an animation. I thoroughly enjoyed this project: since stop motion animation is very “hands on” I was able to combine my love for sculpting and making with my passion for telling stories. Towards the start of 2020 I participated in a film making workshop hosted by Screen South in Folkstone. The outcome of this is my second short film and animation “The Stoneman” which I made during lockdown. To my big surprise this film was chosen as the winner for the Short Film Competition 2020 by JAM on the Marsh. In the forthcoming months I would like to expand my knowledge in filmmaking and work on more animations. It would be fantastic to collaborate with other artists - so in case you are reading this and thinking, hell yeah! I would love to work with this lady, pop me an email :)
My early art and paintings were influenced and inspired by artists such as Chagall or Hundertwasser. Today, my inspiration comes mainly from two sources: number one: the world that I live in. I am a see-er and a feel-er. I observe, I react and I respond through my art. My second source of inspiration is other artists. I love visiting art galleries and museums. Looking at other artists’ work often kick starts a thought process that can lead to a new project. If I had the opportunity to dine with 10 artists of my choice (regardless of their current earthly presence) I would love to invite the following: Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois, Paula Rego, Camille Claudel, Grayson Perry, Pablo Picasso, Egon Schiele, Agniezska Woznicka, Wes Anderson as well as Marc James Roels with Emma De Swaef (which strictly speaking is 11, yet as Marc and Emma work as a team it would be very rude only to invite one of them). All equipped with Douglas Adam’s Babelfish this should be a very interesting and inspiring get-together…
I don’t have a formal art education. In my first degree I studied English and History. Together with a teaching degree I also obtained an MA in American Literature and Modern History. After a few years of working as a teacher I decided to follow my passion and initiated my own art education. I started attending numerous courses at a local gallery, the Kent Adult Education Centre, I learned to throw with a potter and attended a summer course at CSM in London. In summer 2019 I finished my Foundation Year at the University of the Creative Arts in Canterbury, where I specialised in the pathway of Visual Communication. Shortly after this I started attending workshops at Open School East in Margate which is also where I met the artist team Genetic Moo and Matt Mapleston. In my 2019 pieces I used my newly gained skills in coding and Arduino technology to bring my sculptures to life.
Re-occurring themes in my work are gender, mental health and power constellations. My overall aim is not to create something aesthetically beautiful. Nor is it to flatly shock or provoke. Instead, I would like to raise awareness, point out shortcomings, and show a painful reality but at the same time stimulate debate so we feel encouraged to initiate a change for the better.