Drawing on the language of 17th century Dutch art with its readymade gravitas – mortality, fragility, ostentation – I have been staging narratives using collage, photographs, oversized flowers, kitsch objects and ornaments, investigating the tension between high and low art.
The aggressive fairies are a response to the well known photograph of a bare chested Putin riding a horse, epitomising to me the hyper-macho posturing prevalent in today’s politics. The symbolic shrinking of violence and aggression to a minimal size renders it harmless.
My cultural heritage is reflected in the resultant paintings, a blend of Polish exotica and Cockney humour, which influences the work both atmospherically, emotively and aesthetically. Lockdown 2020 gave me time to take an in-depth look at the flora and fauna of the domestic garden and to reevaluate it as subject matter alongside art historical sources. I now grow and photograph my own flowers, using the bouquet as a stage or backdrop, to intertwine my daily living with my art practice.
Elected Academician at Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
