Artist Statement
After Graduating from RMIT and ANU studying Fine Art I joined my son in Kenya, Africa to help work with orphans in orphanages.
I was mainly painting murals on walls with the children and teaching adults some painting skills.
I was intrigued by the raw beauty of the Africans, especially their facial bone structure and also their use of mask in Tribal African ceremonies.
Artist thru history have been influenced by African Mask eg. in particular Picasso along with Matisse and others.
The mask vivid colours and simple strong structural shapes helped start the Cubist Movement .
I’m exploring the blending of these strong lines ,vivid colours without losing some aspects of tribal aesthetics but incorporating some human emotions.
Mask have become such an everyday part of our lives in preventing the spreading of disease .In these paintings I reflect our attempts to still be recognisable as individuals while peeking out and over our mask ,curious but for some scared.
We all have our own mask at times ,trying to conceal our real concerns and thoughts.