Beyond Words

Artist’s Statement

“Beyond Words” takes me on a journey, both physically and metaphorically. By crossing the Humber Bridge, walking its banks and by painting, I find a path towards processing grief. My work reflects my subjective feelings and a sense of absence. I seek a quiet stillness, a reflective mood, evocative of time and place. How do we deal with loss? I must go on, numbed, empty, changed. During my journey I have formed a strong connection with a figurehead I had seen, shipwrecked, lost and vulnerable. She moves through the landscape, embracing and embodying the images and then returns to the sea. Her story is felt rather than told and mirrors my own rite of passage.

My paintings are about water, voyages, landscape and people. Deep meanings and analogies arise. I use my work to communicate with myself and the viewer. Sometimes there is a process of rediscovery, selectively forgetting, treasuring memories that can be brought back to life. Time drifts in and out.  Although the experience can be magical, clear, and still, tensions arise through pictorial conflicts and an absent presence. Shadows take on a key role, floating, ephemeral, hazy, backlit, and encompassing, but always full of memories and longing. The past is gone, broken, and the future is mysterious. What does it hold? What can I endure, let go of and retain?

I have been influenced by theories about lines (Ingold, 2016), space (Massey, 2005) and memories (Schama, 1995). I have been moved by the words of Celia Paul (2019 and 2024) who writes eloquently about art and the processing of grief. I have examined the elusive and fugitive nature of shadows and what they can add to an image (Gombrich, 1995). In parallel, I have melded the formal elements of painting with my own vision and variations. I use composition to maximise the immense scale of the physical space, and line to emphasise perspective.  Often, I introduce diagonals, blank areas and erasure to shake things up and add tension. My palette is small, which complements the often wild and brutal northern landscape. I emphasise contrasts between light and dark tonal areas and use shadows selectively.

NOTE: My Exhibition “Beyond Words”, forms part of the online OCA MA in Fine Art 2026 Group Exhibition, “Five Seasons”, 20.08.2026 to 15.10.2026

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