“Whenever I have gone there, there have been either so many people that I have not been able to see the pictures, which was dreadful, or so many pictures that I have not been able to see the people, which was worse.” – Oscar Wilde
Drawing you say? Personally, drawing is, to put it simply: everything. It is the all-encompassing process with which I have joined in a fascinating relationship over the years, rather like Mr. Brundle in The Fly (1986), with slightly more positive outcomes, and far less voluminous hair.
I draw every day – my choice of degree driven by a deep desire to study the intricacies of creating images with fine tipped pens. My process is time consuming, building up layers of scratch marks and complex stories and structures.
Although I take delight in the strange, Gothic, and generally scary-scary bitey-bitey, there is definitely an element of fun to my images. My influences are varied: I love cinema, particularly philosophical, intense dialogue, and possess a passionate love of Gothic horror, which I reference regularly. As a result, each drawing contains a cobweb of symbolism, sources, and experiences. With also a strongly autobiographical approach, I often use illustrations to unpick difficult themes, such as trauma, mental health, loss, and isolation.
As someone who has spent many years in silence, I always aim to reach out with my work. If just one Eleanor Rigby saw a drawing and felt understood, or simply not alone, this would be the greatest privilege of all, and is something that I also seek on a daily basis. Creating strange and intricate ink drawings while immersing myself in lectures, films, poetry, stories, plays, analyses and recorded university theology debates, is like reaching the closest part of my soul. Drawing is a conversation, entering another world: as a non-binary, introverted spider, having this gateway, and consequently connection to others, is one of the most important aspects of life.
“I am aiming for my work to be psychological black treacle. All the good stuff: queer, Gothic domesticity, rather like if Dracula had been written by Alan Bennett. There, I would be triumphant. The current reality, however? Hysterical cackling over a million textbooks.”