I’m a visual artist, curious about how we make memories, where do we keep them and which ones do we discard. In considering this question, I began to paint imaginary vessels – irregularly shaped, colourfully designed and heroes in their own show.
I observed that vessels have a long history, made by hand or machine, with a utilitarian purpose. or celebrated as decorative items. As Rick Rubin, in his book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, writes
Each of us has a container within. It is constantly being filled with data. It holds the sum total of our thoughts, feelings, dreams and experiences
in the world. Let’s call this the vessel.
Painting imagined vessels allows me latitude to experiment with shapes, colours and design. As well as creating stacks of imagined vessel shapes, I often venture into working on one vessel. Sometimes, works can take on an anthropomorphic form and a narrative unfolds around the completed work. While I create my own stories in a piece, viewers are invited into a work to form their own interpretations.