soul parts
Tentative roots in foreign places
Chinese ink and watercolour on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
84cm x 84cm
2024
Soul Parts is a body of work consisting of ink paintings using traditional Chinese ink and paper, oil paintings, and poetry. Emerging from earlier explorations of the internal fragmentation of self we experience living in a world that constantly asks us to compromise and sacrifice in different ways, and that means for those parts of ourselves we relinquish, this body of work looks outward.
This body of work is a meditation on finding moments of belonging in unlikely spaces
A shared language of creativity and dreams of freedom that transcend language and cultural difference. It is a record of sitting in and embracing discomfort, risking misunderstanding and alienation for the chance of brief moments of connectedness and love. It is also a reflection of the tensions inherent in the negotiations of power, of feeling small but living boldly, much like ants relentlessly building new dreams when the old ones are torn down. I was inspired by a relentless litany of ‘can do’ from the artists, poets, theatre practitioners and musicians I met, encouraging experimentation and hybridity. Most of the works are created with traditional Chinese materials, ink and xuan paper, and mounted in China with traditional materials.
Perhaps good things can come of this
Chinese ink and watercolour on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
84cm x 84cm
2024
Seeking new soil, new loves
Chinese ink and watercolour on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
84cm x 84cm
2024
A rending might be necessary
Chinese ink and watercolour on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
84cm x 84cm
2024
Watch out! Dangerous thoughts spread quickly on the wind I
Chinese ink and watercolour on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
84cm x 84cm
2024
Watch out! Dangerous thoughts spread quickly on the wind II
Chinese ink and watercolour on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
84cm x 84cm
2024
They tell me a war is coming still
Chinese ink and watercolour on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
84cm x 84cm
2024
There is no centre
Chinese ink and watercolour on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
84cm x 84cm
2024
Worlds above and below
Chinese ink and watercolour on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
84cm x 84cm
2024
Heavenly bodies I
Chinese ink on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
82cm x 162cm
2024
Heavenly bodies II
Chinese ink on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
82cm x 162cm
2024
Heavenly bodies III
Chinese ink on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
82cm x 162cm
2024
Free, at last
Chinese ink on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
82cm x 162cm
2024
Free, at last
Chinese ink on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
82cm x 162cm
2024
Follow my leader
Chinese ink on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
82cm x 162cm
2024
Follow my leader
Chinese ink on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
82cm x 162cm
2024
They see us ants
Chinese ink on xuan paper, traditionally mounted
82cm x 41cm
2024
Between them, beneath them I
Oil on canvas
70cm x 70cm
2024
I started these oil paintings during my stay at the second residency in Huangshan, the images grew from being confronted with a view of world politics from a different perspective to the one I am usually exposed to. The images were of of the powerful mythological beings circling eachother in the sky above us mere mortals. Dragons, phoenixes, eagles and bears circling above us, so enamoured with their flexing claws and wings and teeth, they forget everything below.
Between them, beneath them II
Oil on canvas
70cm x 70cm
2024
Between them, beneath them III
Oil on canvas
70cm x 70cm
2024
Poetry became an integral part of my work while in China, it allowed me to capture a moment while in transit, when brush and paper weren't easy to hand. These words also allowed me to form connections, a means of sharing with the poets and artists I encountered, more effective than ordinary conversation, even with translation.
Intimate
The other night I danced with a stranger
both of us sweating, up close
never to be seen again.
tonight I’m lying in a sleeper carriage
temperature controlled
three other bodies in close proximity,
but distant, each shrouded
in our own carefully curated bubbles of sound
Uneditioned digital print on brushed metal
29,7cm x 42cm
2024
Two moments of intimacy with strangers, one in a late night deep house club, hidden away half way up a narrow office building. Another in an overnight bullet train.
Hard times are coming
or so I'm told
time to start packing away
(carefully)
our joy and mischief
(we might get the chance)
with irreverence and a
(to dig them out again)
sense of ungovernable freedom and
(dust them off)
reckless abandonment
(and play again)
there is still hope.
Uneditioned digital print on brushed metal
29,7cm x 42cm
2024
If I was more brave
I’d kiss a lot more boys
(some girls and others too)
if I were braver
I’d take a lot more risks
Jump off a few more cliffs
I’d soar
If I was brave I’d have figured out a lot more things a lot sooner.
clung to falsehoods less tightly,
If I were brave enough I might not still be here
but I MIGHT
So maybe I’ll stick around a while longer
and figure this thing out
Uneditioned digital print on brushed metal
29,7cm x 42cm
2024
Above and below people
Everywhere I go
there are below stairs people
and above stairs people
I’ve pretended to be both
amphibious
not fully adapted to either station
Inevitable really
when you mix too many different ingredients
from too many different socio-economic statuses
Something they say
about artists being dangerous?
The company we keep?
I don’t feel dangerous
just a little lost
placeless
and angry
that everywhere I go
there are above stairs people
and below stairs people
Uneditioned digital print on brushed metal
29,7cm x 42cm
2024
Small men
I’m just visiting,
won’t be here long.
They want to demolish,
reasons unknown.
But my life at home leads me believe the reasons will be petty.
An eviction and bulldozers would lead to protests and placards.
People don’t lie down easy where I live.
(A fact I’m strangely proud, thought I’m not sure it’s my right)
I’m wondering what will happen here?
There’s nothing certain, but I see the
small men doing small things
running the motions
talking big
running in circles
winning tiny victories on borrowed power
Uneditioned digital print on brushed metal
29,7cm x 42cm
2024
Promise me
All you believers,
all you soldiers for a cause,
those of you who would build nations and tear them down
Those of you who are so sure
of the line between us and them.
between you and I.
(Even if you and I were once lovers, sisters, brothers)
Promise me you won’t make the world too small
because I am very much afraid
of what happens when all of our fists and chests constrict so tightly we cannot breathe,
Never mind sing to each other.
I am afraid of what we’ll see in the mirror once there are no more enemies to look at
I am afraid I will never get to see you again
or that if I do,
we will both be so changed we will not recognise each other
or worse
we will be so changed we will not be able to look
each other in the eye,
because we will be too alike
Uneditioned digital print on brushed metal
29,7cm x 42cm
2024