artist statement

 

My work reflects my interests in power, manipulation and the role of the individual in inherited belief systems.

In my first series of paintings, ‘Boys’, I recreated tyrants and dictators as wide-eyed toddlers.  My second series, ‘Girls’, questioned our collusion in the deification and commodification of girls such as Britney Spears and Shirley Temple and looked at the continuing media-led sexualisation of childhood.

Whereas the boys had to (often literally) make a name for themselves as Pol Pot or Hitler, the girls were found, sought out; their image given to them with help from mum, dad and the talent scout.  The process of self invention, innocence and culpability touches both series differently.  In my 2007 exhibition 'Swans', I continued to look at transformation and self invention with particular emphasis on the power of the media and its effect on individuals in the US.

I hope that my images will raise questions about how and why a person, or group of persons, behaves in a certain way. As Foucault explained, a person’s identity is not preset – rather, it is determined by the interactions of a person with another and is, therefore, a shifting temporary construction. My work looks at ideas of personal responsibility within structures determined by time and place and the role of those who create those structures.

Collections

Robert Diament, UK
Nunzia & Vittorio Gaddi Collection, Italy
Paula & Leonard Granoff, US
Marion & Guy Naggar, UK
Jean Pigozzi Collection, US
Marc Quinn, UK
David Roberts Collection, UK
Lord Rothermere, UK
Saatchi Collection, UK 

Curatorial Work

Galerie Karin Sachs
Munich, Germany

15 Sept - 17 Oct 2007

Oliver Bancroft
Tessa Farmer
Annie Kevans
William Waterhouse

'Radar', Empire Gallery - with Catriona Warren
London, UK
20 April - 1 May 2005

Jessica Fagin
Tessa Farmer
Annie Kevans
Haemi Kim
Michael Lisle-Taylor
Rob Littlecott
Coll McDonnell
Kristina O'Donnell
Katrina Palmer
Mark Simons
Guy Stephens
Daniel Wallis
William Waterhouse
Kimiya Yoshikawa