Artist Statement

Art for me began in my grandfather's garage and in the nature of KwaZulu-Natal: mountains, rockpools, shark jaws, seed pods and the mud cities I built in the backyard for matchbox cars. He was a plumber, but much more than that, a polymath who did everything from diving to bird breeding to mechanics. He never sat still, and therefore neither did I. If I was not hammering something with him, or collecting fish scales to make art, I was sitting with my grandmother learning to embroider or to sort buttons and lace. My upbringing was layered with diverse visual and cultural influences: African, English, Scottish, French Seychellois, Afrikaans/Dutch, and Asian.

My research began as an exploration of light, beauty and the sublime within the botanical aesthetic, but it has since evolved towards cultural and autobiographical themes as my interest in words, rituals and symbols expands. Flowers are, biologically, the sex organs of plants, sensual and fragrant expressions of creation with undulating forms. They are fragile and organic, standing in opposition to the mechanical and artificial. Flowers signify everything from the Virgin Mary to femininity to death. My observation of the flower is, in many respects, a still life. I am not a botanist; I am an observer of form. I began with traditional materials: oils, acrylics, charcoal, and ink to explore these forms but gradually incorporated mixed media for a more tactile quality and a wider symbolic reference.

I was interested in the diasporic experience of migration through the symbol of the flower and plant. Whilst Victorian plant hunters were cataloguing botanical specimens, empires were mapping geographical territories. As species were collected and classified, lands were charted and divided for colonial empires. At the same time, seed beads were traded and used by the Zulu as a visual language, while Victorian floriography became a means of expression when words could not be spoken. This led my process from drawing and painting to using textiles, video footage, poetry and beads to express what I came to call ‘botanical mapping,’ a crossover between movement, identity, and symbolism. Flowers are also national emblems such as the Protea, Rose, and Lily, while gardens themselves became small versions of mapping and border-making, erasing or at least taming wild spaces.

Today though I am less interested in academic taglines and elite art world trends. There is creative power in craft, beauty, colour, form and experimenting with unexpected materials or a blending of techniques. Essentially, I am a maker. I am still building mud cities in gardens.

Education

BA (Hons) English Literature and Fine Art, University of Natal, South Africa (1997)
GTP Teacher Qualification and NQT, Chiltern Training Group, UK (2003–2004)
MA Fine Art (Distinction), UCA Farnham (2018)
Non-degree, UNISA:
- ETAHOD U: Classroom Management, The Education System, School Management
- ETBHOD Y: Learning to Know the Adolescent, Learning and Teaching Strategies in Adolescent Years
- ETCHOD 6: Guidance, Counselling, Life Skills, Special Educational Needs
- ETDHOD B: Outcomes-Based Education, Multicultural Education
- ETEHOD F: Religious Education, Environmental Education
Law (LLB Year 1, UNISA): Roman Law 1 & 2, Family Law, Law of Persons, Labour & Tax Law, Criminal Law 1

Exhibitions and Features

Linear Gallery (UCA Farnham), 2017
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower, 2017
Linear Gallery (UCA Farnham), 2018
Lewisham Arthouse, Granular, 2018
Safehouse Exhibition Space, 2018
UCA Farnham MA Graduate Show, 2018
Haus-a-Rest Gallery, 2021 — Zine: The Uncanny
Artists Responding To Magazine, 2021 — Zine Poetry & Watercolours
Gallery32, 2021 — Press Feature
In My Mind’s Eye, West Horsley Place, 2023 to date (annual)
Farnham Alumni Exhibition, The Pottery Barn Farnham, 2025
Artists Responding To Magazine, 2024 — Article: The Uncanny and AI Art
Plantae Magazine — Artist Interview and Artwork

Work

Artist and Poet
Secondary School Teacher (Subjects: English, Literature, Art, History of Art, Media Studies)
Previous roles: Legal Secretary, Assistant Editor, Project Management, Copyright and Document Design