2004

In search of meaning and beauty in the modern world

According to the critic Northrup Frye, a religious painter can produce beauty only when commissioned to paint Madonnas, but must paint cruelty and horror when asked to paint a Crucifixion. These works are my way of exploring and considering Frye's ideas on beauty in art.

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2014 - ONGOING

Filling the Tins

When my mother passed away I was left considering and contemplating my memories of her. High among these were some intense memories around her cooking, baking, and the things she used to say to me and my siblings. Eventually I began making a work that was part memorial, part penance. I was inspired by the Japanese concept of Kintsugi to gild a damaged dinner set with gold leaf, build a dinner table with representations of my mothers life included in it, and embroider a selection of my mother's sayings onto a tablecloth.

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2021

What was that you said?

Invited at short-notice to participate in an exhibition that referenced the contemporary art world, I made this series of somewhat tongue in cheek works that critique the art market based on snippets of conversations overheard at art fairs and art galleries mixed in with a few art historical references.

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2006

The Pleasure of Beauty

Part of an ongoing exploration of my upbringing and the influence bible stories and religious art have on my spirituality. Colourful images accompanying Sunday school classes as a young child served as my introduction to art. Or did they? Maybe subsequent exposure to art has influenced my memories. Regardless, patterns and beauty in the everyday world continue to inspire my work, and these pieces ask questions of clear memories and potentially flawed ones.

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2010

Short Stories

A substantial portion of my work involves finding beauty in the mundane and overlooked. I am inspired by language and visual storytelling. Drawing on chance and random actions that I have limited control over, these works are an attempt to tell a story through abstracted images, inspired by John Berger's ideas on photography and Chinese calligraphy's emphasis on aesthetic harmony.

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2011

Affective Portraits

In this collaborative project with fellow artist Adrian Wong we explored concepts around identity, memory, and language through non-traditional emotional communication in family and commercial studio portraiture. We set up a series of temporary photography studios in Hong Kong and asked participants to simulate and elicit a range of emotions through various exercises. The resulting images aim to expand the medium of studio portraiture to include a wider range of human emotions beyond just cookie cutter smiles.

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2018

Instructions

I find the use of instructions in works by both Yoko Ono and Sol LeWitt fascinating. This allows the artwork to take on multiple forms depending on the interpretation and realisation of the work. I have been, for some time, exploring ideas around chance, randomness, and the imprecise nature of language and translation. I run workshops for photographers who wish to refine their personal vision and direction. These works come from an expansion of the exercises that I developed for the participants and allow for a wide range of interpretation and realisation.

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2009 - 2011

...a poorly remembered childhood

This body of work had its genesis in my move from New Zealand to Hong Kong. I am very interested in memory. These images capture places that hold significant memories from my childhood in Christchurch. Or do they? Memories are soft and delicate things, and they change over time. As I documented these places, I became increasingly aware of the cultural and societal impositions on my memories. This project was halted after the tragic and destructive earthquakes of 2011.

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2010

The Disconsolation Of Art

Here I explore disappointment after an extended period of expectation. Rooted in the concept of cultural memory and how this shapes our viewing experience, I use the term "expected memories" to highlight the contrast between the mixture of disappointment and wonder we feel when viewing culturally significant objects.

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2020

Beauty in Danger

Developed during the COVID19 pandemic this body of work rests on two ideas: the beauty that can be found in dangerous objects and the fragility of human existence. My process in making these is informed by a long term interest in medical and scientific illustration and a habit of looking for beauty in overlooked and uncommon places.

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In search of meaning and beauty in the modern world

Filling the Tins

What was that you said?

The Pleasure of Beauty

Short Stories

Affective Portraits

Instructions

...a poorly remembered childhood

The Disconsolation Of Art

Beauty in Danger

Memory Fragment/Fragment Memory

Memory Fragment/Fragment Memory

What was that you said?

What was that you said?

Beauty in Danger

Beauty in Danger

Spam

Spam

Filling the Tins

Filling the Tins

Instructions

Instructions

The Nightwalks

The Nightwalks

From The Shoulders Of Giants

From The Shoulders Of Giants

Affective Portraits

Affective Portraits

The Disconsolation Of Art

The Disconsolation Of Art

Short Stories

Short Stories

...a poorly remembered childhood

...a poorly remembered childhood

Mixed Messages

Mixed Messages

The Pleasure of Beauty

The Pleasure of Beauty

God, It Is All Dark

God, It Is All Dark

In search of meaning and beauty in the modern world

In search of meaning and beauty in the modern world

after ee cummings and others: an abstraction of the portrait

after ee cummings and others: an abstraction of the portrait

Sincere flattery, South China Morning Post 48 Hours Magazine

Sincere flattery, South China Morning Post 48 Hours Magazine

A Portrait Behind The Portrait

A Portrait Behind The Portrait

A review of the From The Shoulders of Giants show at Blindspot Gallery

A review of the From The Shoulders of Giants show at Blindspot Gallery

An Interview with the editor of Art Flow Press

An Interview with the editor of Art Flow Press

Hong Kong Artists to Watch, Peak Magazine March 2015, Peak Magazine, 2015

Hong Kong Artists to Watch, Peak Magazine March 2015, Peak Magazine, 2015