My paintings reflect a radical rootedness in place, body, and imagination. I work in oil, acrylic and watercolour, creating from my studio in Sertã, Central Portugal, in a valley my family has cultivated for several generations.
In my work I depict human and non-human figures in the context of the Portuguese rural landscape. Over time, I have come to distinguish less and less between land and body in my work, and these often merge and collapse into one another. I play with scale to create sensations of both awe and intimacy, often working with either life-size or miniature scenes. I use line and shape to create paintings rippling with movement, reflective of the rivers and streams that course through this part of the country. Although inspired by the colours of the surrounding land, I am equally drawn to bright, unnatural hues, weaving these two palettes together to create an uncanny electric energy. I distort and alter colour to reflect feeling, rather than to represent reality. Despite being deeply influenced by the natural world, my work is not naturalistic. It is a hybrid of the human, non-human and technological.
In my work, there is a quiet tension between the sensual and the strange, the soft and the surreal. Vivid, unnatural colours are injected into tender scenes: a figure jumping into a river, a figure being enveloped by swirling fig leaves. These moments reflect the unspoken impact we are having on the planet, and the looming shadow of climate collapse.
Sense of place is a driving force in the work I make. Being a cross-cultural artist who has lived and worked both in England and Portugal, in rural areas and in cities, I understand the interconnectedness of our environment, with our bodies, minds and lives. My work reflects this understanding.
My most recent body of work was made during the spring and summer. As such, water and heat are recurring motifs, along with the fig tree, a personal symbol of creativity, cyclical regeneration, and the anticipation of the autumn harvest.
