About the Work

The human figure has always been central to my work: a result of the strong commitment to figuration in Scottish painting as well as an individual interest in depicting the human being and human concerns.

I deal with various themes in my work but in many of the images there is a common feeling of strength and liberation. I strive to make images that convey a sense of power and energy or potential energy. In recent years, much of the work deals with figures in motion or transition and alludes to movement through psychological states.

The models are themselves unimportant and lack individuality. Sometimes I just use ordinary guys, sometimes I work with freerunners, acrobats or divers. I often use repetition as a tool and by using the same figure more than once in an image, it helps to remove the work from realism, and a single image becomes a site for multiple versions of self, or transitional human states.

Usually, I use the male figure in my work and each figure is a template and vehicle for human emotion. By including male characters in the work, which bear no relation to my own physical presence, I create a distance and it becomes easier to open the work up to dealing with broader human emotions rather than being too self referential.

The underwater work has a different feel. I generally use female models and try to emphasise the “otherness” that comes with being submerged below the surface. I often collect underwater source material during the summer and work with it during breaks from the male work - I find it quite calming and therapeutic.

Drawing has been at the forefront of my practice since my student days and continues to pay a crucial role. Even when painting, I try to paint as I draw, removing colour rather than adding it. I enjoy its directness and I find that monochrome work serves to strip the image down, without colour to seduce, it focuses one on the content.