Art is not a purely intellectual pursuit. It is a combination of heart, body, mind and spirit, an interplay of internal and external realities, a way of being in the world that embraces different cultures and connects eternal, existential truths. It is at once personal and collective, visceral, earthy and sublime.
It is a primary activity and, in one form or another, permeates everyday life. It enhances and celebrates life and reflects the breadth of human thought and feeling, containing, holding and communicating the full range of human experience and sensibility.
It’s origins in magic and religion were balanced by the practical elements of craft, survival and ingenuity that have continued to underpin the more ethereal qualities of beauty, elegance and transcendence. The early artefacts and tools produced have an inherent beauty and elegance, including pattern and decoration which were not necessary for their practical use, but which indicate a connection with nature and a playful, fluid way into the imagination, a sense of self-awareness and a realisation of the possibilities of communicating through the visual symbol that has parallels in ritual, dance and poetry. These qualities inform the way I think and feel about my work. It is not a question of aesthetics, taste, fashion or style: art reminds us of our origins and provides a tradition – not an academy – in which to work, having a revolutionary path whose cycles turn and resonate with the patterns of nature.
Braque said “science reassures, art disturbs”. It is a constant reminder of the human condition: inquisitive, transient, insecure, fleeting, impermanent and ephemeral – “ to see a world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour”. To attempt to work outside tradition is like trying to re-invent the wheel, or to make a hammer using a hammer: it leads to an impoverished and isolated art. Rodin did not overthrow tradition to create a new canon, rather he reinvigorated it through his vision and ability to establish a new pattern within it while maintaining and articulating the sculptural qualities of mass, weight, gravity, surface and light. Tradition is not a hide-bound constriction, rather it is like a tree with a strong root and many branches, capable of renewing itself, supporting and sustaining life and bearing fruit.
The essence of art is ineffable, like an unconscious symbol, or the Dao, universal but unnameable, fluid but constant: how else do we tolerate mortality or survive nature in the raw? After many years of working in various ways with different materials, including time spent in education, as a potter and as an art psychotherapist my main area of work is in sculpture, the human form providing the inspiration, the content and the challenge.