Artist statement
I am a self-taught artist, compelled to explore ways to connect to myself, to other humans and to my environment, to better understand my experiences, support myself in challenging times, and work out how I can contribute. I find that mark-making when I am out and about or in bed, can help me explore my feelings and thoughts with curiosity and with less shame. I am also developing my movement practice, which I find helpful in nervous system regulation and therefore in feeling expansive, playful and exploratory to opportunities for experimentation.
Recently, I have been enjoying making my own ink, bundle dyeing and carving on wood I found along the Thames beaches. I love to use found materials and things that would otherwise be thrown away. This is because I think there is enough ‘stuff’ out there for us to be inspired by and use without new things needing to be made. There is so much opportunity and possibility if we can notice it – in our own bodies, in conversations, in rubbish we find – so my practice is often helping myself be in the state where I can do that noticing.
Working with other humans is an important part of my practice; through supporting people in mentoring/coaching, running workshops with adults and children, working in forest schools and through community projects and free public art. I like to help others feel the benefits of making and moving, and experiencing the freedom of less ‘shoulds’ of what it should look or feel like to make art.
Big influences: all of the art residencies, particularly the one in Glen Dye, organised by Steve Xoh. Art Babies, Forest School Leader training, Nonviolent Communication, clowning, improvisation, polyvagal theory, trauma-informed embodied learning, 8 shields, working with an art and movement therapist.
CV
Education and Training:
- BSc in Psychology, Swansea University + University of Mannheim, Graduated in 2014 with a 2:1
- MA in Gender Studies, Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. Graduated in 2016
- Level 3 Forest School First Aid and Level 3 Pediatric First Aid, 2025
- Forest School Leader Level 3 Training – ongoing
- Body Informed Leadership Practitioner Programme, 2023
- Coaching for Leadership: Psychodynamic Approaches, 2022
Exhibitions:
Solo exhibitions
- Applecart Arts, a gallery of conversations, London, 2023
- Online gallery of conversations, ongoing
Group exhibitions:
- Tower Gallery, ‘black and white’, 2025
- Barbican Library, ‘feelings are real’, Art Babies (me + Steve Xoh), 2025
- Leytonstone Arts Trail, July 2024
- Rosetta Arts, ‘LGBTQ+ History Month’, 2024
- West Reservoir Centre, ‘art at the res’ 2024
- Spongleheim Gallery for outsider art, 2022
Interview with Steve Xoh and John-Paul Flintoff about Art Babies ‘feelings are real’ exhibition, 2025.
Solstice-themed podcast created for Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages, 2023-24.
Awards, Grants, and Residencies:
- Grant from Newham Council for LGBTQ+ History Month to run queer history walk and run plaque-making session, 2025
- Grant from RISE Beyond – funding to pay for Bow Arts studio for one year, 2024
Residencies
Upcoming
- Samphire Hoe Solstice Celebration, June 2025
- TRACES festival, Tower Hamlets Cemetery, London, July 2025
Past
- Neighbourhood Store, Shoreham-by-Sea, July 2024
- Ocracoke Art Adventure, North Carolina, January 2023
- Applecart Arts, October 2022 – July 2023
- Stanley Road Store for Brighton Open Studios, May 2023
- Summer Camp Artist in Residence, Hawarden Estate, North Wales, 2022
- Glen Dye, Scotland, May 2022
Professional Experience
- Forest School Assistant – September 2024 – current
- Artist Mentor – Entelechy Arts – September 2023 – current
- Self-employed mentor and coach
- Group facilitator – online and in person workshops, nature connection and consulting