As an artist I have always enjoyed responding to some form of narrative. Noah’s Ark, Alice in Wonderland, and Greek Myths combined with art historical references have inspired many works. For years I contemplated the idea of an autobiographical show, penning a few chapters for a possible book as far back as 2004.
Twinny the book, features stories of rather twitty twinnies growing up on a farm amidst animals, ballet practices, much older siblings, a very involved Mummy and a very farmy Daddy. Supporting the stories are sketches and photographs. The purposefully unresolved sketches are a mix of childhood memoirs and fantasies, along with ideas for sculptures and ceramics. My sculptures and ceramics are all inspired by stories in the book. For this reason I have referenced the page numbers next to the titles of the works in the show.
My bronze figures are intially created using aluminium armatures with wax. The casting is completed by Jonathan Campbell, Created and Cast Bronze, Wellington. I love to build figures and animals - to create works in repsonse to my childhood as a ‘ballet dancing farmer’s daughter’, proved a natural progression from my previous lyrical, surreal figures inspired by art history and mythology. Twinny 1 & 2 are Marie and I as 12 year old girls, just developing boobs (chapter 23 in book ), combined with trick and treating (chapter 28).
My Animal Tumbler Series are sculpted out of Whitestone clay, then drawn on in ceramic pencil. For me to create a ceramic, is to create a 3 dimentional canvas with a story, which developes via the drawing. For example our puss cats were prolific bunny catchers, our dogs sometimes chased chooks, hence the works: Chick Chaser & Bunny Catcher!