Artist Statement
I am a multi media artist and work with, ceramic integrated with metal — copper and steel armatures and patinated plinths. My pieces are sculptural objects: biomorphic ceramic forms that meet linear metal elements, finished through layered glazing, firing cycles, and controlled surface patination.
My work examines how memory and past experience continue to shape present behavior and inner life. I am interested in the psychological architecture that people carry: the porous places where vulnerability and damage reside, and the constructed boundaries that preserve well-being. The sculptures present these tensions visibly — forms that appear to be pushing through, containing, or being supported by deliberate metal frameworks. Natural references (seed pods, shells, stems) and the language of domestic craft inform the work, while a direct concern with emotional resilience drives the formal choices.
Form and material are how the ideas operate. I build with throwing on the wheel and slabs to allow subtle irregularities and tactile surfaces, layer slips and glazes to reveal previous gestures, and fire in successive cycles to develop fragility and strength together. Metal is shaped and joined to offer restraint, trace lines, or scaffolding; copper provides warmth and patina that reads like time worn experience. The final pieces balance proportion, negative space, and a careful equilibrium so that movement and restraint coexist.
Ultimately the corpus expresses a simple proposition: growth and protection are simultaneous processes. Each object conveys a progression — rupture, repair, guarded opening — and, through material interplay, embodies the work of tending a self while holding necessary boundaries.
Active participation within my local community is a cornerstone of my practice. I am committed to fostering creativity and sharing my passion for jewellery and ceramics by running creative workshops. These sessions provide an opportunity for individuals of all backgrounds to explore their own artistic potential, engage with different mediums and learn various techniques in a supportive environment. Through these workshops, I seek to encourage collective creativity, nurture a sense of community, and help others discover the joy and fulfilment that comes from working with their hands.
Exhibition
2020 Dry run, online exhibition, University of Sunderland, Shipley Art Gallery
2021 Degree show, University of Sunderland, The National Glass Centre
2021 Sunderland Creatives Edinburgh House
2022 Sunderland Selects, The National Glass Centre
2022 Meanings & Messages
2023-2026 – puppets for South Tyneside Summer parade
2026 City of Suffrages, Manchester Jewellery week
Commission, freelance work
2015- tutor running creative workshops for the Cultural Spring
2014-2018 tutor running creative workshops for the WEA
2015-running my own creative workshops in the North East
2022-running creative workshops for CSSC
2017- Health and Well-being WEA
2020- Staying Connected Research and Development, Cultural Spring
March- May 2021 - Loneliness Commission, Cultural Spring
2022-2023 COVID Memorial commission for South Tyneside
2023 – Project Officer, The Cultural Spring
Publications
Findings magazine Autumn/winter 2021- 2022
AJC Meanings and Messages Tour 2022-2023
COA Contemporary Jewellery May 2022