About
My painting practice aims to render figures of autocratic power through the visual language of beauty. The subjects which I chose to portray in my work are split between living, or historical draconic leaders and fictional supervillains. My array of characters share a consistent display of tyranny, serving as transparent apologues of evil. The central drive of my practice lies in evoking a problematised dialogue of the offensive, portrayed as beautiful and intimate.
Torquato Tasso,
Jerusalem Delivered, IV, vv, 56-64, 1575
The tyrant proud frowned from his lofty cell,
And his looks made all his monsters
tremble,
His eyes, that full of rage and venom swell,
Two beacons seem, that men to arms
assemble,
His fettered locks, that on his bosom fell,
On rugged mountains briars and thorns
resemble,
His yawning mouth, that foamed clotted blood,
Gaped like a whirlpool wide in stygian flood.