Farindola International Art Festival

Abruzzo, Italy  2017

My time in Farindola was focussed on developing an understanding of the place, its inhabitants and their culture and essentially, their relationship with the land and environment around them.

Located in Abruzzo, high in the Gran Sasso mountainous region of Central Italy, the significance of the 2016 earthquakes was of paramount importance. Their devastation and impact on the population, farming communities, environment and the residents was palpable and the realities of living with this threat became clear during my stay.

I am always interested in exploring how, rather than what something or an experience is, be it place or form. My works are an assimilation of my experiences and encounters with places and people.

My working practice during residencies, combines the use of outdoor drawing, note-faking and video activity, together with larger-scale drawing and painting undertaken in a temporary studio environment. I work with very large (10m x 1.5m) paper rolls, which I transport and cut sections from to use in the studio to develop drawings at a range of scales, attaching paper to walls and boards to work. I also use ‘found’ literature, postcards or publicity materials as a base for drawing and painting. By layering imagery direcfly overthe ‘found’ imagery, a ubiquitous image associated with a place is established as the starting point for a work. Drawings are created alongside smaller paintings and site sketches in oil on canvas.

Works are complete when they have their own voice and speak of place, content, specifics, universal themes or about the process of their production.

 

With a background in teaching and lecturing, I enjoy sharing and discussing my working practices, debating concepts and working alongside visitors or other artists.

Conversations and interactions with others vitally feed and inform my process.