Abaddon

James Gleeson was a huge influence on me, in particular his later works. I came across his "The Darkening Stage" at the NGV on a school excursion back in the mid 1990s and was immediately amazed. Dark and light forms swirling, fighting, combining, mutating; liminal almost-things in an unearthly landscape. It was dark , surreal and romantic, I was enthralled.

With my tree-scapes, I sometimes feel as if I'm exploring a Gleeson-world of distorted shapes, peeling bark ebbing and flowing with colour. Perhaps gliding over a vast, ancient landscape. And I like that my art is tied back to actual trees I have seen and photographed, they are based in living nature but also, in the mind, can suggest something very primordial.

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Nature is the core, the starting point. All things derive from Nature, whether it's the pattern of a leaf's veins under a microscope, the rhythm of rill and gully erosion on the mountainside or the subjective human experience of sleeping under the magnificent Milky Way. Nature's shapes, her patterns and designs are what I obsess over. Through my art I hope to communicate and share my passion for Nature, both the real and the imagined.Having drawn for as long as I can remember, I studied art and design at TAFE but I found myself employed with a scientific glassblowing manufacturer. After sixteen years learning the craft, I'm craving a more direct engagement with art. It is my intent to create works that are not only beautiful but curious, reasoned or fun; artwork that can either work harmoniously with a muted interior colour palette or pieces that exude emotion and risk.