I am an artist, poet and facilitator exploring who we are, and what it means to meet somewhere between our love and rage. My work is made to playfully provoke, lovingly challenge and explore what it means to build a complex narrative of shared identity. I am fascinated by personal archive in all its love and loss, in it's ability to bridge gaps and find resemblance.
The work spans memory, archive, spaces for understanding, unknowns, education, playful resistance and connection through humour and satire.
I'm greatly influenced by my mixed British, Saint Helenian and South African heritage.
I will welcome you in with tea and cakes, then ask why you never call.
The work spans memory, archive, spaces for understanding, unknowns, education, playful resistance and connection through humour and satire.
I'm greatly influenced by my mixed British, Saint Helenian and South African heritage.
I will welcome you in with tea and cakes, then ask why you never call.
Saint Helena 2023
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In 2023 I travelled with mum (June Essex) on residency to Saint Helena to find Saint roots and explore the unique British/Saint identity.
A people as sweet as they are sharp, as warm as they are cool. It was a beautiful chance to finally connect to the Saint people, and understand that part of us. The place is deeply tied to history of the British Empire; The East India Company, exile of Prince Dinizulu and the mass burial of over 8000 'Liberated' Africans from the Transatlantic slave trade. The residency cemented a need to explore mixed heritage and raise more awareness of St Helena from a different angle....Napoleon was not the only one.
A people as sweet as they are sharp, as warm as they are cool. It was a beautiful chance to finally connect to the Saint people, and understand that part of us. The place is deeply tied to history of the British Empire; The East India Company, exile of Prince Dinizulu and the mass burial of over 8000 'Liberated' Africans from the Transatlantic slave trade. The residency cemented a need to explore mixed heritage and raise more awareness of St Helena from a different angle....Napoleon was not the only one.
Shenzhen, china 2013
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In 2013 I travelled to Hong Kong and then onto Shenzhen, China where I took up an artist residency at Da Wang Cultural Highland, whilst there also visiting Jingdezhen. Here I explored the shift and balance between Chinese cultural tradition and mass consumerism. The paintings made observe technological impact on human interaction.
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