Coming from Northern Ireland, where dark humour is very popular, I believe that humour is incredibly powerful in making difficult topics more approachable. I conjure up worlds made up of violence, chaos, and anxiety but also of ecstasy, excess and ‘perfection’. I am obsessed with colour and combining non-traditional, cheap, tacky materials like glitter and googly eyes with more traditional painterly ones. My choice to use these materials is a political one. I am interested in disorder(s), nostalgia, and childhood symbols. I enjoy having reoccurring elements in my work, such as my abstract version of a drone.
I am currently studying an MA in painting at the RCA, and graduated with First Class Honours in Fine Art from Lancaster University. I have exhibited work in a variety of locations across the UK, such as in The Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool and The Tub, Hackney in London. I have also exhibited internationally, such as in Baku Gallery and C3 Lab in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA and has been the featured artist of the month in Charlotte Art League, North Carolina, USA.
The first year of my MA was solely online due to the Covid19 pandemic, so I used this time to take over a vacant retail unit and open my own gallery, studio, and community arts space in Northern Ireland, and loved being able to work with local artists and help showcase their work, the highlight being my curating of a group exhibit 'EMERGING: A Room Full of Art' to help support local artists after the hardships endured during the pandemic.
Upon moving to London, I curated (and exhibited in) a group show at Kate Howe Studios, Ltd titled 'Coping, in Colour', featuring the work of six London based artists.