Between 1991 and 1994 I spent approximately six weeks drawing during rehearsals of each production of Jean Pierre Mignon's direction of Beckett's 'End Game', Eugene Ionesco's 'The Chairs' and Raymond Cousse's 'Strategy of Two Hams' all performed at the old Anthill Theatre. Over the years followed other theatre experiences like Barrie Kosky's 'The ExileTrilogy', whose imagery I have revisited in this series of Monoprints. More recently Adena Jacobs directed Sophocles 'Elektra'. The space we shared was so intimate that we seemed to be enveloped in each other’s breath. I found myself working in an environment of physical, emotional and intellectual experimentation; it was a collective interaction as opposed to the solitary studio pursuit. The air permeated with a creative energy so powerful I absorbed it.  This in turn enriched my own creativity. Day after day I would draw, seeking to make concrete the elusive essence of emotion, form and space.  An array of mediums at my finger tips, pencil, pastel, ink and acrylic, all there in the service of my endeavours. 

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For me it is important to visually absorb the artists of the past, to understand the structure and bones of the painting as well as feeling an emotional response. If the structure and bones are solid, the painting will grow. Whether it is a Cezanne, Rothko, Goya, Velasqeth, Soutine, or the cave paintings, it is the same for me. Their individual language and way of putting the work together speaks of a universal humanity. 

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I believe that painting in the twenty first century can still be a potent medium, one that is able to speak about and reflect on our time in a powerful way. In my work I try to express something of the quality and subtlety of what it feels like to be human: the internal world of emotions, the pain and the knowledge that we are essentially alone in the world.