My current practice is about memories and the people in my life. I explore the personal associations we have with words, how a simple word can trigger a very specific, personal thought. Using books and my friends and family, I have created a library of memories, shown in the form of paintings. I take a book, read by a friend or family member, and flick through, looking for a word that sparks a memory about that person. I then create a small acrylic painting on the page of the book, inspired by the memory. I like working in a specific process with self-inflicted boundaries I have enforced, to help me create a cohesive collection of works; it creates both a challenge and direction for my practice.

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Words help me to generate ideas for my paintings; I first realised this when I was introduced to artist Richard Serra, liking that a single word can inspire an artwork. I have used multiple techniques, involving text: exploring every definition of a word, asking family members direct questions, having other people choose words for me, and finding a word in text with a specific theme in mind. Words can have so many meanings, multiple personal associations and such a range of visual representations; having words as my inspiration gives a clear guide whilst allowing for a lot of freedom.

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I like painting, using non-conventional bases for my paintings; I’ve experimented with wood, boxes, and household items. I especially like painting on objects as they add more dimension to my work; my paintings become an item, rather than just an image. People have to look around my paintings, rather than just at them, giving more of an exploratory feeling to the work. This is key, especially in my current project, as I want it to seem as though people are walking through my memories. Objects also encourage the small scale of my painting, especially the books, as people instinctively look, closely, inside them. I specialize in small, detailed acrylic paintings; found objects make sense of the small size.

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I have used other techniques to emphasise the memories aspect of my work, painting the names of the people inspiring the paintings, onto the covers of the books. I also added volume numbers to the covers, fitting the book theme whilst showing that I have multiple memories, as these people are important to me. I have further shown this with my exhibiting technique, choosing to create plinths out of stacks of books.  The sheer quantity of books will give the impression of a large collection of memories I have collected over the year of my life, some books opened up to share with viewers.