In my work as an artist, I like to play with mood and expression, giving art a narrative and a means to communicate. I want to share an experience with the observer, and like to explore emotions such as sadness, despair, joy, and humour, shaping those emotions into expressions of character and atmosphere.
I love to bring art and ideas to life, creating movement through using stop motion animation.
I find that whilst stop motion can be a playful experience it does require a lot of time and concentration. It helps that I like to feel consumed by my own work whilst I am creating it.
I tend to absorb my projects and my projects seem to absorb me, so that my life during creating becomes very focused and almost selfishly locked down whilst I develop ideas, characters, theme, and story.
My love for stop motion maybe connected to the notion of the handmade thing in itself. I feel handmade items can carry a signature of the maker and that can enable a piece of art and expression to shine with personality and uniqueness.
I like to experiment with different sources of medium, such as clay, sponge, fabric, and wire, to create the characters and scenes, flowing freely with a plan that I can bend when a problem arises.
Occasionally I may flirt with surrealism as I lean towards creating a dreamlike and uncanny effect in my work, enabling a way to communicate that which is worrying or unnerving.
Experimentation in art style in design is important to me. For instance, Cubist and Russian Constructivism should be recognisable in the design of character in my animation, ‘My Body Is A Bedsit’.
The challenge to my ability to combine narration with art and communication is hugely welcome.
