'Art Avenue'; a gateway to the arts in Leeds.

Colour, place and perception of space are the principal elements of my work as an artist. My visual interest is in the portrayal of the built environment as the landscape of a modern urban society, it’s changing spaces and places, and it’s cyclical regeneration. My previous career in Surveying and Architecture forms the basis of a long held fascination with our built habitat, and constantly informs what I do. All aspects of our modern environment inspire me, but I particularly like to work on specific sites where a knowledge and understanding of its history and the context of its current state can inform my art. Our urban environment is a dynamic, vibrant place in a constant state of flux and yet buildings are seen as static things, solid and immovable. This dichotomy fascinates me, and reflects my working life, which was initially concerned with this physicality, structure and fabric, and now, has me questioning how we see this environment, and the meanings we attribute it.
 
I record the physical environment through drawing, painting and photography and then transfer selected images to a computer where they are layered and digitally manipulated. Blocks of colour are ’painted’ into the piece, detail is emphasised and sometimes perspective is drawn out or elements repeated, playing with depth and pattern. The final picture may present familiar fragments to spark recognition but skew perception and challenge the viewer to reconsider their surroundings. The completed montage is printed onto a textile surface, which is itself a pliant material, and counters the hard structure of an architectural edifice. The final process of stitching texture and line back into a piece brings out a three dimensional quality, an echo of the source.