My paintings show surreal, detailed dreamscapes. They are composed in a very free and open manner, from lots of little sketches I made from artist books. I work with no clear narrative, too, further adding to the liberating aspect of my work but also to its weird and disruptive vibe. I take inspiration from traditional world-builders like Hieronymus Bosch, especially in how he staged space to tell moral stories. But my focus is different – less about storytelling and more about the act of painting itself. Through texture, materiality and juxtaposition, my way of working provides a big break from how traditional painters worked. 

“The Joy of Painting” is one of my favourite pieces. It shows an interior, where a figure, with their back turned, stares out at surreal worlds, waiting for artistic inspiration to strike. It has that title because I feel it encapsulates a creative joy and liberation, both in making and seeing. I play around with scale of the figures, and use ‘paintings within paintings’; window spaces creating breaks, disrupting a ‘normal’, ‘conventional’ interior structure.