"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."
Albert Einstein
I do not identify myself as an autobiographical artist, but the inspirations for my works have always come from my everyday life. I have a natural curiosity and find myself thinking of endless questions about all sorts of topics. This is what serves as the main influence for my artistic practice. I always carry my phone to take photos and make notes, as well as a small logbook to sketch ideas when they come to me. I take an average of 100 photos a day, of anything that catches my eye or inspires me, which I can then refer back to later.
It is not my intention to promote a message or opinion, I aim for the audience to think deeper about aspects of the everyday that may often be overlooked. I have an inability to look past details and commonly like to focus on a small characteristic which I then amplify.
As well as taking inspiration from the everyday, there are many visual artists that influence how I perceive art and how I consider my own artistic practice within a wider context.
"I can't understand why some people believe in medicine and not in art, without questioning either."
Damien Hirst
Medicine and drugs are recurring themes in Damien Hirst's work. Like myself, he was inspired by how society is seduced by drugs, believing they will cure all ills and preserve life, though rarely questioning their side effects. However, although our works share a specific common theme, Hirst's work focuses on the inevitable death, whereas my own practice is more concerned with life.
Fellow YBA Tracey Emin has also been a great influence on my artistic practice. She has challenged the traditional view that embroidery and needlework is women's work and a merely a domestic or decorative craft as opposed to a creative art form. Her large scale embroidered life drawings were my first introduction to embroidery in a fine art context and inspired me to begin experimenting with this medium myself. It was this progression that then led to me working on a larger scale, on more ambitious projects, and exploring the realms of sculpture and installation.
As I explored working in 3D, I came across Peggy Kliafa, a fine artist who uses capsules and medication blister packaging to create meticulous sculptures, installations and assemblages. Her work possesses a stark simplicity, whilst still making a bold statement by exploring medicinal themes and the therapeutic nature of illusionism in art.
