Primary Research

My practice takes its coordinates from primary research drawing directly on the immersive, embodied experience of visiting landscapes, ancient places and ancient homes. Recent fieldwork includes the ancient dwellings of the Pompeii Archaeological site which inspired a series of ‘Pompeii Memorials’. This summer I journeyed back 5000 years to Orkney in search of one of the oldest Neolithic settlements and burial sites. Another series of paintings (2024) presents a field recording of ‘Oakhurst Cottage’, a timber framed dwelling dating back to the 16th century that remains unmodernised. The responding paintings capture the experience of place through details of the vernacular architecture bringing to attention the longevity of the materials, the ancient building methods and the people who built them.

This October 2024 I went in ‘in search of ghosts’ to an ancient island of geological time, a place to encounter the Palaeolithic Age in Europe and home of the Neolithic: Jersey. For me the ancient, in all its forms, is an encounter with the presence of those who have come before. It inspires reverie, reverence, feelings of awe and a connection to a great lineage of people.

Field Research (from top, left to right)

Pompeii Archaeological Site, La Hougue Bie (Jersey), Skara Brae (Orkney), La Cotte de St Brelade (Jersey), Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn (Orkney), Neolithic Chambered Cairn (Orkney), Wattle & Daub at the Weald & Downland Living Museum, Neolithic Chambered Cairn (Orkney), the last remaining Firehoose (Orkney), Equinox Boat Burn at Butser Ancient Farm, Oakhurst Cottage (Surrey), Cairn de Barnenez (Brittany), the Roman Baths, Midhowe Broch (Rousay, Orkney), Stonehenge, Chysauster Ancient Village (Cornwall)