The starting point for my drawing and painting practice is my fascination with land forms
and terrain
I have been deeply involved for several decades in looking, understanding and
depicting the shapes and processes of land surfaces, with a special interest in the
evolution of our physical environment, both physically and culturally
Growing up close to Taranaki Maunga instilled in me an awareness that monumental
natural presences can have profound effects on our subconscious and creative selves
I am interested in iconic landform structures and evolutionary processes, as well as the
evidence of human use and cultural occupancy
My aim is to reduce and simplify the geomorphology to its essence, its underlying form
which reflects its origin and is visually memorable
Studying Physical Geography at Victoria University and becoming aware ot the NZ
landscape painting tradition, especially the work of Michael Smither, Colin McCahon
and Robyn White, led me to painting the sensuous and earthquake faulted Wellington
hills
I use some of the visual conventions of topographical maps and scientific
geomorphological diagrams to comment on the specialised way they are used to
organise landforms and processes visually. The use of borders, numbers, letters/words,
latitude/longitude lines, inset diagrams and legends comment on the measuring and
quantifying of the land
A recent development in my work is extending the idea of physical evolution and
change to include the transformation of land and terrain by successive cultural land
uses. Cultural patterns can overlay earlier traces of land use, and all human-driven
change and modification can overlay the original geomorphology.
I am experimenting with transparent and partially opaque paint layers to achieve this
palimpsest effect
I work with acrylic paint on a variety of supports, including stretched canvas, loose
canvas, hardboard panels and constructed wood panel where the effect of joined planks
adds texture and affirms the flat surface of the work.
and terrain
I have been deeply involved for several decades in looking, understanding and
depicting the shapes and processes of land surfaces, with a special interest in the
evolution of our physical environment, both physically and culturally
Growing up close to Taranaki Maunga instilled in me an awareness that monumental
natural presences can have profound effects on our subconscious and creative selves
I am interested in iconic landform structures and evolutionary processes, as well as the
evidence of human use and cultural occupancy
My aim is to reduce and simplify the geomorphology to its essence, its underlying form
which reflects its origin and is visually memorable
Studying Physical Geography at Victoria University and becoming aware ot the NZ
landscape painting tradition, especially the work of Michael Smither, Colin McCahon
and Robyn White, led me to painting the sensuous and earthquake faulted Wellington
hills
I use some of the visual conventions of topographical maps and scientific
geomorphological diagrams to comment on the specialised way they are used to
organise landforms and processes visually. The use of borders, numbers, letters/words,
latitude/longitude lines, inset diagrams and legends comment on the measuring and
quantifying of the land
A recent development in my work is extending the idea of physical evolution and
change to include the transformation of land and terrain by successive cultural land
uses. Cultural patterns can overlay earlier traces of land use, and all human-driven
change and modification can overlay the original geomorphology.
I am experimenting with transparent and partially opaque paint layers to achieve this
palimpsest effect
I work with acrylic paint on a variety of supports, including stretched canvas, loose
canvas, hardboard panels and constructed wood panel where the effect of joined planks
adds texture and affirms the flat surface of the work.
