Visible, Invisible, Veiled

'Visible, Invisible, Veiled’ began in 2015 when broken grids appeared unexpectedly in a painting inspired by Virginia Woolf’s first novel ‘The Voyage Out'.

Voyage Out- Land & Sea

The ‘Voyage Out: Land and Sea’ led directly to ‘In a state of osmosis’, the first painting exploring natures broken grids.

At the time I wrote in my journal:

'And there is also the thought that the grids represent a veil - allowing glimpses beneath, whilst also distorting and hiding, shading, holding back. Is this something to do with the spirit - which is unseen and yet its presence is felt, known, acknowledged and simultaneously hidden from view?’

In a state of osmosis

In an Liminal Zone, 100 x 100cm, oil on canvas

Lighting up the sky at night, 100 x 100cm, oil on canvas

These paintings celebrate life, nature, the feminine and the spirit, aiming to capture the exhilaration of connection through colour, gesture and material.

What is held within, 190 x 140cm (image 160 x 140cm), acrylic on cotton

What is beyond, 176 x 140 (image 136 x 140), acrylic on cotton

Orbital, 84 x 84cm, Acrylic on Moulin de Larroque handmade paper

Nature is full of broken grids. Walking in the woods I observed their changing colours and appearance, asking ‘is nature hiding’ and ‘what is nature hiding’, as well as considering whether “a broken grid relates to breaking out?”.

Sun on my Face, 84 x 84cm, acrylic on Moulin de Larroque handmade

Sun on my face

Wind pushing back my hair

I imagine levitating

And then dissipating

Into the green

Of the air

What it reveals, 100 x 100cm (4 x 50 x 50cm), acrylic on canvas

'What it hides' was laid over the four sections of 'What it reveals' and the two were painted at the same time. After every colour the canvas and knotted linen thread were allowed to dry separately. The canvases were rotated 90º between the each colour.

What it hides

Les Libellules

What am I?

Skimming o’er the mirror,

Glimmers of light,

Iridescent rainbows,

Dancing in flight.

Hovering o’er the surface,

Cavorting left and right,

Dazzling jewels,

A beguiling sight.

Skimming o’er the mirror,

Dancing in the light,

Iridescent rainbows,

Glimmering in flight

… a dragonfly

In these later paintings within the series, pathways appeared: through the forest, around a stupa or within a labyrinth, referencing memories of Ajanta (India) and Chartres (France), where I had walked the Labyrinth.

Pathways, 84 x 84cm, Acrylic on Moulin de Larroque handmade paper

Parcourir le Labyrinthe de Chartres, 28 x 30cm circles in 4 lines, acrylic on Moulin de Larroque paper