“My work has always been a response to places, people and experiences" - Lewes exhibition

“I often listen to music while I work, and it also connects to T S Eliot’s poem Four Quartets which has always been a reference point for my work – ‘the intersection of the timeless with time’ and that sense of connection he writes of. I’m interested in quantum physics and the points where contemporary science meets a more indigenous and much older knowledge.

“My work has always been a response to places, people and experiences. It charts a trajectory of time but each piece is also a present moment – the Forever Now. My main inspiration is the landscape. I walk daily on the Downs or by the river in Lewes and am always inspired by the light and forms of the landscape, the physical bodies of nature, the sense of movement and entanglement, the chaos and rhythm and the contrast of light and shade.

“I work from visual memory, recalling snapshots of colour, the sense of fleeting moments of time and connection, so the work becomes a blend of the real and remembered – of inner and outer landscapes. Each piece has a story. I remember the light, the weather, my mood, the music I was listening to, the conversations I had while I was painting. I often name work after pieces of music, so their titles together become like a playlist.

“I’ve wanted to exhibit at the Star Gallery for a long time as it’s such a beautiful space to show work in. When I booked the show in early spring I didn’t know that the day the show ends would co incide with me moving away from Lewes. I’ve been here nearly 20 years so this exhibition will also be a closing marker of a chapter of time for me.

“In the work are all the influences of landscapes and people I love and all of the time spent here, but its also full of the energy of change and movement.

"The exhibition is predominantly work made this year. It ranges from large- scale to very small pieces with some work on wood as well as canvas, some ink/axe drawings and small sculptures. I’m really looking forward to seeing it all together.

“My mother is an artist so I grew up being encouraged to draw and paint and to really look at things. My earliest art influences were the huge John Piper stained glass window and Graham Sutherland’s tapestry in Coventry Cathedral where I grew up. I did a foundation in art in North Wales and had the most amazing and inspiring painting tutor Peter Prendergast. I loved the physicality of making sculpture though so I went on to do a degree in s culpture at Brighton University and then to do a masters in fine art media at the Slade School of Fine Art.

“Some of the highlights of my career so far have been having poetry and drawing published and also performing them live. It’s exciting to feel the energy and the response in a live performance. At the International Drawing Festival I did a live large-scale drawing, improvising to music, using an axe dipped in ink.”