Since c.2012, my art has focused on identity and the manner in which art can help to facilitate the defining of self in periods of isolation and during periods of bereavement. As I continue to merge making and writing and research based on artist interviews, I am furthering my exploration of the constantly evolving roles played by women in key transitional situations, often out-with conventional art audiences, to address disempowerment, memorialisation and loss.  This research is by definition a collaborative undertaking, working as Research Fellow at the University of Dundee with universities in Australia: Australian National University, University of Melbourne, and Charles Sturt University; the McManus Gallery and Museum, Dundee, University of the Arts, London and the Museum of Australia.

 

My published books are in certain respects, collaborative products with the artists on whom I write, based in conversation and shared experience. My drawing practice is instinctively conceived, using landscape as synonymous with psychological space or states of mind, where landscape is emblematic of the human spirit.

 

I have conceived a unique methodology of Collaborative Drawing for the on going project, The Portrayal of Loss. An affinity with place, through personal or historic significance and shared experience enables one to explore the unknowable, mysterious aspects of life in other areas such as music, poetry and anthropology.  My collaborative drawing is essentially a conversation between two practitioners who share experiences such as bereavement, in Scotland and Australia. The research extends to working with a group of First Nation women artists of the Wiradjiri people in the Riverina area of New South Wales, enabled by artist Julie Montgarret. This will lead to an intercultural exploration in conceptual and experiential terms with a publication involving essays and analyses by 25+ contributions.

 

The Portrayal of Loss, for example, explores bereavement, personal and historic and involves working collaboratively with 30-50 artists, anthropologists, psychologists, medical researchers and practitioners, nationally and internationally and partnering with universities in the UK, the US and Australia.

 

• Recent residencies in Ardnamurchan, Scotland, the Riverina in NSW, (2017) and the Global Centre for Drawing in Melbourne (2016) enabled productive periods for painting and writing. Formal residencies are on offer at Charles Sturt University and Tasmanian School of Art, Australia.