My interest with landscape as subject matter comes from years of living in the north and of endless road trips south. The monotony of each mile intensified a longing for some kind of disruption in the scenery; anticipating that moment when the landscape breaks and the vertical shapes of buildings will suddenly peek, and then loom, over the horizon. The flat geometric rectangles in my work are representative of those towns, as they emerged into view.
I use blocky rectangular shapes, making them sit on, over, and under the horizon, to create counterpoints of vertical and horizontal elements to narrate the urban landscape in colour and form. I use a panoply of papers – decorative paper, sewing paper, dictionary paper, wrapping paper, maps and found paper to portray tactility and atmosphere.
The freedom of mixed media allows me to construct a landscape based on my memories of those long drives. It is an intuitive process of cutting, tearing and layering. I juxtapose disparate and fragmented pieces, shifting them many times until I find where they fit. There is a constant battle in my work between the horizon line and the structures that sit on it – I’m never sure which one will dominate.