I walk daily through the Hepburn Regional Forest that nestles and hugs Daylesford where I live and work. Step by step I am drawn to the minutiae and enchantment of the forest floor, of what is hidden, as much as what is seen.
Similarly, I am drawn to our internal forest: the rich, multifaceted plethora of the unconscious realm – a place of untapped, hidden wildness and potential, memories and personal transformations.
My process involves taking my intuitively constructed 2D drawings and paintings that surface from my inner landscape and psyche and reimagine them into 3D forms through the lens of the forest. I carry this forest of imagination, perceptions, and experiences within me. I also draw from ancient traditions of fairytales that carry within them universal themes about human psychic patterns and archetypes.
Working with the translucency of Porcelain, I make delicate forms using slipcast and handbuilt techniques. They are often handpainted with an imagined, mythical narrative; sometimes fragile attachments mimicking the mosses and lichens found in the forest are included. Some works are illuminated to bring a sense of the animating spirit that abides in all of life’s inner potential.
The forest and trees speak volumes- if I am still enough to feel their voices. I am conscious that as I breathe out, the forest breathes in, and as I breathe in, it breathes out.