ManicWorld Magazine

– To your point about artists being signals for expressing change, rage and discomfort, how do you feel about artists also being the light that shines into a more hopeful future/reality?

I do agree that it’s an artists’ responsibility to provide a look into a more hopeful future as well as highlighting important issues. That’s a cool intersection of fiction and art for me actually – both art and books can provide us with hypothetical futures, helping us to explore possibilities that are hard to otherwise visualise. I really like Julissa Andrade’s (paxpaints on socials) approach to making art that is full of light and hope – her paintings possess a strong sense of transformation and peace, in kind of a psychedelic way. 

– There seems to be a lot of external influence on your work and inspiration, what do you hope your work will inspire in people, artists or not?

I’m definitely always open to influence when it comes to my work – I pull inspiration from everything and everyone. I love being an artist among artists. I hope that my work, as I continue to learn and evolve, provides a kind of escape for people. Storytelling and narrative in painting are tough to develop, but I’m working hard and hope to create work that tells stories and forces the viewer to ask questions. If my work stands the test of time, I hope it’s because it made people feel something. 

– What are some non-creative influences on your work that you have noticed so far? Not literature or art from other people?

I lost a parent to suicide when I was very young, and because of that I do find that grief colours my work. Other elements of my tough upbringing – loneliness, escapism, and abandonment – show up in my work as well. I paint a lot of stillness, a lot of scenes empty of people, and I think that that is directly related to the way I feel, disconnected from the rest of the world. Alternately, I have long been obsessed with nature and astronomy, and I think that that shows in my observational depictions of planets, florals and landscapes. 

– Just to round up, would you say that there are any creatives in the past or present whose work echo the same emotions and messages as yours?

Oh, man. It’s hard to compare work as a painter. Painters whose work aligns with mine… Maybe Edward Hopper? I feel like his work captures a similar stillness. Kazuo Oga is a lifelong inspiration of mine and a lot of my ‘green’ work is an answer to his. His watercolour-like textures and obsession with light definitely have influenced me. Ruth Wilshaw does really excellent work too, always creating work in the fantasy realm that I’m dying to explore more of. Christine Tierney’s works – serene scenes, often a single subject – really appeal to me too. She’s had a profound effect on my development. I think a lot of artists feel the way that I feel. I think it’s common to feel like an outside observer of life, and that’s a big part of creating art, so in a way, all art is an echo, an ouroboros of perception.