Lithosphere (2023)

In this work I blend a minimalist sensibility with a surrealist aesthetic to create a series of paintings generated through the process of decalcomania. This process creates surfaces that evoke geological forms and biological textures and yet maintains an ambiguity that evades definition. The title refers to the lithosphere, our planets outer shell, comprised of the crust and the brittle upper mantle. In these works the lithosphere is re-imagined as the dreaming skin of the earth, where the earth has it’s own form of intelligence and is transformed into an enspirited world.

I am strongly influenced by the “Celtic Surrealist” and occultist Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) who used decalcomania as a serious tool, believing it allowed her to access the liminal spaces between worlds. This technique is a form of automatism and the artist acts as a mediator between the visible and invisible.