Artist's Statement

A major inspiration for my work comes from an interest in materials - exploiting and challenging their physical properties, using them as metaphors and creating unusual juxtapositions that enable me to create intriguing though communicative sculptures.

Although my works are planned, they very much evolve throughout a lengthy making and thinking process. During this time components are accumulated and my sculptures come together at the very end - constructed from a kit of home-made parts. At times audiences are presented with these parts - which become art pieces in their own right, and are encouraged to mentally finish the construction themselves.

My aim is to create a new and unexpected play between different disciplines. I love jumping between castable and carvable materials and feel the great deal of energy committed to the production of my work resounds in the final pieces. The works are lively and intriguing, encouraging a real dialogue with their viewers. I invite the audience to interact and complete the works - they can be worn, constructed, launched and climbed.

This 'functionality' is very important. My works must be believable; I want them to leave the arena of sculpture - of the art object to be observed on a plinth. Instead I want them to become design / working objects. I very much feel my working process merges with that of the designer / maker. In more recent years I have enjoyed working collaboratively with highly skilled engineers, photographers, and product designers to produce works that would have otherwise been out of my reach through solo ventures. These collaborations have added a beautiful richness and depth to my work and is now a working approach I am enthusiastic to continue.

I am working in a no-man's land, happily blurring the boundaries between the applied and fine arts. The skills I employ in manipulating the materials, and the techniques I use to construct my works are an integral and essential part of the piece. Indeed it is these aspects of the work that have become my trademark - cold polished surfaces meeting with seductive velvet, light reflecting off a perfect row of tiny screw heads, a beautiful arc which imbues a certain elegance.