New Work

Anthropocene Series

“The Anthropocene Series is a collection of mixed media work that contemplates the impact humans have had on the natural world.”

Taking animals on the endangered list as inspiration, I create their bodies using found images, from old magazines and second hand books, that depict, or relate to some of the main reasons they are threatened in the wild, such as loss of habitat, human overpopulation, pollution and poaching.

_{The Elephant is created using found images of cities, buildings, and human structures, inspired by the threat of habitat loss and human encroachment.}

_{The shark is made using found images of plastics and plastic consumer items, and pages from a book of the history of plastic production.}

_{All the images used to create the tiger’s body are images of human body parts found in magazines, I was interested in exploring the idea of humans replacing animals, and in this painting, humans have replaced the tiger completely. I wanted this piece to work in two ways; from further away, to be a striking image of a tiger that looks like a painting, and up close, to reveal that the tiger is not really there, and that it is actually partly made of paper.”}

_{The Orangutan and the tree are made from found images of deforestation and chopped wood.}

_{**I am aware of the ironic hypocrisy of using cut up paper to make a painting about deforestation}

“I combine analog collage, graffiti stenciling and bold colour fields, three techniques that fascinate and challenge me as an artist.”

” I wanted to create portraits that celebrate these beautiful animals and my love and fascination with them, but juxtapose this with my sadder, deeper thoughts on what humans have inflicted on them.”

_{The Chimp’s fur is created using found images of guns, inspired by the threat of poaching to the survival of wild Chimpanzees}

_{The Sea Turtle was made only using found images of land that has been changed or altered by humans in some way, to reflect how the natural world has been completely changed by humans.}

_{This is a critically endangered Blue Throated Macaw, I cut up images of logging and forestry machinery from old books to create the parrot, as its principle threat in the wild is deforestation.}

_{The Fox is made using images of bricks and walls, inspired by how some animals have had to evolve and adapt to living alongside humans, and survive in human environments.}

“_{In this series of work, I wanted to create boldly colourful, striking portraits of animals, that appear painterly, yet are actually made of an intricate collage of images that all relate to a human made threat to their existence. They are a celebration of their beauty, but also a lament on their possible extinction, they are all tinged with sadness.}“

The Rhino has been created using found images and text related to fossil fuel extraction.

All the above artworks are Mixed Media and Acrylic on deep edged canvas and are 90 cm by 60 cm in size and sealed with light-fast, museum quality varnish.

_{This landscape scene is created entirely with found images of things made by humans, nothing in this painting is natural at all. This work inspired all the further works in this series.}

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