Artist Statement

 

The emotional pull of landscape- whether rural, coastal or industrial- is very strong for many Australians. In my 2004 exhibition, Not Even Past, I explored the past through the present, painting industrial sites of inner- city Sydney and Cockatoo Island.
 
In my 2005 exhibition, Whispering Country, I revisited rural locations- autobiographical points of reference- to explore how memory can distort reality. The paintings did not mirror the appearance of these places – rather they were memories of places, blurred by time and distance.
 
My current work explores the imagery of river and lake- both natural and constructed. As in my previous work it is the tantalising “presence of absence” that inform my paintings. In the words of philosopher Michel de Certeau, “ every site is haunted by countless ghosts that lurk there in silence”.