Artist’s Statement:
My artistic development reflects an intensely personal journey that began with comic strips in the 1980s. I consider myself primarily a draughtswoman seeking to exploit the illusion of space on two-dimensional surface in new ways.
I feel a bit like a physicist with her molecules occupying an obscure corner of ‘science’. I am fascinated by form and what lies behind it before it materialises. Everything in existence, when stripped to its essence becomes merely matter and energy. I had no real aptitude for science at school; however, through drawing and paint, I feel I somehow have access to the same knowledge without trying to pin it down or possess it. The results seem to reveal a natural order, even harmony.
Grounded in an intuitive meditative approach developed over many years, my paintings offer a distilled space that invite the audience to reflect on the source of all energies and the intangible mysteries of this life. This seems ever more important in a world of increasing information overload. There is an elusive ‘Something’ so fundamental, powerful and yet so intangible that propels me through my own existence, just as it does all living particles. This, for me, suggests a parallel with the current theories in Quantum physics and the discovery of the Higgs Boson, often referred to as the ‘God Particle’.
The inherited duality of a fiery Catalan French father and a reserved English mother is fundamental to my work as is a love of Eastern philosophies. I am intrigued by the idea that beauty can result from chaos; that opposing concepts such as poetry and maths are utterly interconnected; and that energy can be contained. My use of color is at once bold and restrained. Negative space is absolutely crucial in my work – emptiness is full, everything seems to spring from nothing. The resulting visual distillation flirts with Minimalism, which, for me, is not a rigid movement that favours the cool over the dramatic; it is a passion and a product of my enduring search for the essential.
Just as my obsessions with energy, physics and duality are constants, there is a sustained dialogue with art history which includes my love of Renaissance artists’ use of the Golden Ratio and of geometric Arabic patterns in architecture. My quest for roots and an insatiable curiosity have led me to move about the globe and each port of call has been an opportunity to explore and integrate local arts and culture.
Sensitive to my latest environment, I am intrigued to see how my work has come to reflect the exquisite urban architecture that surrounds me in Chicago. The sunny, scintillating patterns of the river reflected in the geometric, glass high-rise buildings resonate so deeply that I get goose-pimples sensing the esoteric connection between all things. And thus I find my work entering another phase, into a bright future.
