I am a mostly self- taught artist, my background being in music.
In 2014, I completed a PhD in gamelan composition, having previously completed a BA and MMus in music. As well as gamelan music, I am a classically trained musician, and I play the recorder, flute and piano, and I’m teaching myself classical guitar. I have performed extensively, both as a soloist and in many different ensembles, from recorder quartets to punk bands. 

There is a very close relationship between my music and my visual art. My music has hugely influenced my art – I see rhythms in the lines and placement of shapes in my drawings. I also see music in colours.
My approach to art is similar to my approach to music – with my music I often improvise and then take fragments to build compositions. I do the same with my art – I doodle and play with the materials I have and when I find particularly pleasing patterns, shapes and textures, I elaborate on them.

My dreams are always (and have been since a child) incredibly intense, vivid and full of never-ending crazy imagery. I nearly always remember my dreams and usually have several each night. It often feels like I have entered some kind of parallel universe! Recurring themes and images are trees, forests, tidal waves, constructions made of fish, hidden parts of houses, haunted kitchens and many different types of flying. These images always influence my art!

I am also a filmmaker as well as a composer, and my films and music have been performed and shown by the Southbank Gamelan Players at the Meltdown Festival at the Royal Festival Hall, London in 2015, and Amsterdam and Budapest in 2016.

How nature influences my creativity…

My whole life has been deeply connected to nature, and I value the beauty and meaning that it has to offer more and more as I get older. For me, it is an vital and spiritual place. In my artwork, I try to show nature in a direct pictorial way and also in a more abstract and deeper way, in which I try to create images which connect with what I perceive as the soul or spirit of nature. I see this as a never-finished and ongoing process, and the exploration of it is both frustrating and deeply satisfying at the same time. I use patterns from nature, colours, textures, movements and flowing lines. Nature and landscape is full of curves, and drawing them repeatedly is an attempt to evoke a connection with the earth.