“I created ‘Embrace’ during an adjustment period after returning to the United Kingdom after living and studying between Australia and New Zealand for six years. My ochre palette reflects my own multi-sensory experiences and memories, the most treasured being of the first time I foraged for ochre pigments in the Daintree Rainforest. Sometimes we paint what we need to see or feel, so I’ve found myself painting not where I am, but where I want to be. Ochres make me feel at peace, stable and energised. 

It was overseas I began to explore my sexuality as non-monogamous and the seemingly endless emotional baggage that comes with it. I experienced a huge double-standard as a woman compared to that of the men I’ve dated. The Splendid Fairy-wren of Australia, are known to be socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they form pairs between one male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such trysts. They gave me hope for ‘positive promiscuity’ while challenging gender norms that women can’t be sexual beings.”
 
 
2023
Oil & gold leaf on canvas.
197(W) x 107(H) cm