These figurative details speak for the body as a whole. They also represent moments of intense intimacy, placing the viewer in the position of voyeur or participant.

The animated nature of the fabric, which overwhelms the figure at times, plays multiple roles. I see a kind of operatic drama in the beauty, complexity and rippling energy of the fabric, as if the fabric is alive with the hidden internal dramas of the figure. These internal dramas speak to me about everyday experience, where one manages various quiet struggles with more or less success. The fabric also offers tremendous visual interest for me, as well as an opportunity to consider colour and form. My figures straddle the lines of rigidity and confinement, perhaps societal expectations, internal pressures, as well as beauty, seduction, luxury and sophistication.

After I choose an image for its thematic potential, my focus changes to the execution of the painting. I am influenced by Baroque painting and sculpture, and so the drama and dark theatricality that I love in the Baroque influences my choices, and the way I paint. I am also profoundly interested in understanding and then depicting substantial form on the flat surface. I work in thin layers, building the form with each layer.

It is my intention to allow the viewer to explore in which state of being the figure falls.