ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a UK-based, Australian-born mixed media artist exploring themes of memory, place and identity. All through the lens of a female who grew up in 1980s suburban Australia, raised with a mix of cultures - my mother's and father’s families immigrated to Australia from Scotland and Italy in the 1930’s and 1950’s - and who is now a mother to one daughter.

I am a magpie for art materials. Old photographs, vintage textiles and pre-loved objects are incorporated in my work using collage, embroidery and sewing. All to create works on paper, 3-dimensional collages and textile wall hangings. I use bold colours, pastel hues, humour and unexpected objects - such as domestic items, pompoms and glitter - to explore themes in an accessible way.

There were lessons intrinsically passed on through my family's immigration experiences that are apparent in my work. Storytelling and humour were important. So was mending and making do. Collecting memories like family photographs, keepsakes from their ship journey to Australia or holiday trinkets were all treasured documents of a new life. Assessing the cultural lay of the land and adapting accordingly were essential. This all trickled down and found its way into my artwork. Such as my use of old photos and pre-loved objects that bear the mark of those who owned them before.

With found imagery as my basis, I use collage on paper and on textiles to intervene and create new possibilities for the images' subjects. Often with women as the focus of my found imagery, I have made commentary on my observations on the changing - or unchanging - views of women's roles in society, tradition, motherhood and identity (‘Play At Home Mum’). More recently, I have explored the skills traditionally considered 'women's work' or ‘just craft’, through textile wall hangings inspired by Suffragette banners (‘No Wallflower’).