Artist Statement

My work is about the interaction of a human form with clothes that are worn, and how they are worn.

Previously, I have painted, drawn, collaged, pattern cut and sewn clothing on or with a female form, and now I feel that the clothing should speak for itself in this new form, which I’m calling ‘Clothworks’.

Clothes that I love, I wear to their end – until they are worn out, threadbare, in holes, patched, repaired or re-fashioned. I love them for different reasons – the texture of the yarn or the weave, the colour, the cut or the fit. The holes that appear through wear become, to me,  part of the garment’s design.

Linked to these pieces, I make large scale (A1 & A2) life drawings and paintings of female figures, as an appreciation of a strong woman’s form which over time, creates the ragged fabric result.  For these I use compressed charcoal, scene painter’s charcoal, XL graphite blocks, oil pastel, and oil on paper.