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In my research, I explore narrative through record keeping and processes of watercolour painting. My specific focus has been to investigate and challenge the material constraints and expectations of watercolour. These paintings were developed from a body of work that utilised traditional techniques of the medium, such as preparing the surface and working through observational studies. Coming from a background in oil painting I was interested in the distinct characteristics and various reversed principles of watercolour: such as the application of light-to-dark, the translucency of the paint, limitations of layering and the paper's ability to manage water. With a focus on still-life subjects drawn from my context, I sought to embrace the moments of failure, experimenting with surface to explore new approaches to substrate, colour and the medium's painterly quality, developing compositions that simultaneously explored narrative outcomes. 

 

These paintings were created over one year in Grafton, painting in my flat: an evolving space under construction, with ever-shifting spaces as windows were removed, new objects were introduced, walls painted, and wallpaper stripped. The transformation of my home, with its changing structure, provided surfaces for stretching paper and content for my paintings. Primarily, these works serve as records, but through the repetitive material investigation, they take on a narrative quality. 

 

The subjects and objects evolved in tandem with the context in which the paintings were made, and the medium and process ultimately guided the narrative.