Study for a Purple Interior

Study for a Purple Interior, 2025, Acrylic and collage on board, 120 x 120 cm

This painting began with a collection of familiar motifs—a Chinese ginger jar, orchids and fragments of interior space. Painted canvas pieces were cut, moved and collaged into place, allowing the composition to develop through experimentation rather than careful planning.
I am interested in the moment when observation gives way to imagination. The result is an interior that feels both familiar and slightly strange, where colour, pattern and form combine to create a space that invites wandering and interpretation.

This work is painted onto custom built cradled timber board, the sides have been painted purple so it is ready to hang unframed, alternatively if you would like to receive this work framed, please select your frame through Bluethumb's framing service at checkout.

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I’ve been making art for most of my life, though the path here hasn’t been completely straightforward. What was meant to be a one-year trip from the UK to Sydney in 1994 somehow turned into a permanent move, and Australia has felt like home ever since.
A lot of my work begins outdoors; walking, noticing plants growing through fences, strange colour combinations in nature, or bringing home flowers and cuttings to paint in the studio. Painting has always been a way for me to slow down and pay attention. It’s where I feel most myself.
Before returning to painting full-time in 2015, I worked across surface pattern design, printmaking and graphic design, and those influences still shape the way I paint today; through colour, rhythm, line and composition. I’m also deeply inspired by the simplicity and spontaneity of Chinese and Japanese ink painting, calligraphy and woodblock prints, though my work has gradually evolved into something much looser and more contemporary over time.
Since returning to full-time practice, my work has been exhibited in solo and group shows across Australia and selected as a finalist in prizes including the Calleen Art Award, Lethbridge Prize, Bluethumb Art Prize and the National Contemporary Watercolour Prize. My paintings and prints have also been licensed onto homewares and collected internationally.
I still feel genuinely grateful that I get to spend my days painting, and I hope that sense of joy, calm and curiosity finds its way into the work itself.