My art seeks to translate personal vulnerability into a universal dialogue, celebrating the co-existence of intellect, playful joy and the parts of the human spirit that survive intact.
Artist Bio
As an eclectic, cross-disciplinary British artist/illustrator, my practice sits at the intersection of of art, science, and lived experience. I have an insatiable curiosity that moves fluidly across the arts, sciences, and humanities. My practice moves fluidly between these disciplines, drawing especially on a longstanding curiosity in history, the natural world, and the human condition.
I bring the research skills gained from my Cambridge degree in Modern Languages and Social Anthropology to my self-taught practice.
Today, I create a combination of hand painted and drawn illustrations using watercolour, ink washes, pen and ink, and coloured pencil, focused on my special interests in history and the natural world. Digital works focused on scientific concepts formed an earlier strand of my practice.
My life has been shaped by severe chronic illness and AuDHD, complexities that remained undiagnosed and misdiagnosed for most of my life. With the clarity of correct diagnoses, my practice is emerging to explore what it means to be human, to be different, and to feel misunderstood.
Ultimately, my art is a celebration of the parts of the human spirit that survive intact.
My aim is to specialise in self initiated zines/non-fiction picture books and also develop my portfolio to sell at galleries within the contemporary arts space.
Artist Statement
My practice explores the coexistence of intellect, joy, and vulnerability, translating personal experience into a wider reflection on the human spirit. I take a polymathic approach, moving between research and creative expression to celebrate a Renaissance way of thinking in which art and science are inseparable. Anchored both in lived experience and academic research, my work is driven by a boundless curiosity ranging from medical ethics, global politics, and history to literature, art, and the natural world.
My work is currently expressed through hand-painted and drawn illustration: watercolour, ink wash, pen and ink, and coloured pencil, grounded in close observation of history and the natural world. These pieces are joyful, and at times naive, offering a space for neurodivergent freedom. This style is an expression of the part of me that has survived difficulties including trauma and years of misdiagnosis. I believe this joyful, resilient spirit sits comfortably alongside intellectual rigour, a coexistence the wider world sometimes struggles to understand, particularly for those with uneven, or "spikey," neurodivergent profiles (when there is a a highly uneven pattern of cognitive and functional abilities).
An earlier strand of digital work, focused on scientific concepts, laid some of the groundwork for how I think about my current practice, though hand-drawn and painted work is now my primary focus.
I bring the research training from my Cambridge degree in Modern Languages and Social Anthropology to a self-taught visual practice, using that grounding to give my illustrative work a considered foundation.
My illustrations, self-initiated zines focus on celebrating biodiversity and the comfort found in nature, alongside exploring history, disability representation, and the playful joy of neurodivergent experience. I intend upcoming picture books to consider how history might inform our future, while my zines allow me to draw on my academic background to explore subjects mainstream publishers often overlook — chronic illness and disability advocacy among them.
Because of my experiences, everything about my art is, at its core, a testament to my soul having survived. I aim for my work to look beyond my own life, exploring the broader human condition under pressure. In future artworks I hope to acknowledge the toll of adversity while examining the attributes that allow people to survive, translating personal struggle into a visual reflection on the complex reality of survival in a very difficult world.
Looking to the future, another focus of my enquiry will be the “Diagnostic Odyssey”, examining the prolonged and delegitimising journey of patients navigating poorly understood or complex conditions within systems that struggle to recognise them. Alongside this exploration, I will be further investigating the duality of intellect versus naive emotional joy and vulnerability, and focusing on drawing people in my illustrative style, placing them within contemporary contexts. I will also draw attention to health experiences that are often marginalised or misunderstood.
I will always continue to celebrate the unique, playful joys that can be found in neurodivergent experiences. Ultimately, I want my work to make people smile, and to leave them feeling a little more uplifted.
Easy Read Statement Summary:
My illustrations, self-initiated zines, and non-fiction picture books focus on celebrating biodiversity and the life-enhancing comfort found in nature, alongside exploring history, disability representation, and the playful joy of neurodivergent experiences.
I bring the research skills gained from my Cambridge degree in Modern Languages and Social Anthropology to my self-taught practice, ensuring a thoughtful foundation for my visual narratives.
Ultimately, I want my practice to make a positive societal impact. My picture books would explore how history can positively inform our future, alongside celebrating the life-enhancing comfort of the natural world. Meanwhile, self-initiated zines would allow me to draw on my academic background to explore niche topics mainstream publishers often overlook, such as chronic illness and disability advocacy. Above all, everything I create is driven by a desire to capture the sheer joy of the natural world and the beautiful resilience of the human spirit, with the simple hope of making people smile and leaving them feeling uplifted.