I am a Fine Artist from Canterbury and Research Administrator for the ECLIPSE Programme. I am based at the KMMS Pears building. I studied the International Baccalaureate in sixth form which provided me with a broad education in English, History, Maths, Biology, Italian and the Visual Arts. I studied my undergraduate degree in History at the University of Warwick where I focused on telling the stories of women from the Nineteenth Century to the present day through cultural resources. Key topics included exploring the cultural history of the NHS, Sexuality in Victorian Britain and exploring cultural depictions of women in 1970s American sitcoms. During my degree I held a scholarship with Lloyds Bank which led me to working my summers breaks at the Bank’s headquarters in Bristol and Edinburgh. It gave me a brilliant insight into the professional world and inspired entrepreneurship. I returned to my third year at Warwick with a determination to try new experiences, I applied for business funding for my art, for a teaching trip to India and I also applied to complete my master’s in Fine Art. I had a brilliant final year, achieving all three. It was a true pleasure to live in India on a farm during my last summer after University, I taught English and inspired creative learning methods for extra lessons to children in rural villages in the community.
I then returned to the UK and completed my master’s in Fine Art Part time, using the two-year period to fully introduce myself to the world of professional art and I immersed myself in many different opportunities. During that time and since graduating in October 2021 I have worked with the Royal Scottish Academy, Turner Contemporary, Royal British Society of Artists and worked on multiple artist residencies including one with Jane Austen’s House Museum. My two most critically acclaimed works to date are ‘Map of One Existence’ (Self-Portrait in the form of an autobiographical map) and ‘Welcome to my World’ (34 Piece Ceramic Installation) – both are black and white expressions of my inner self, displayed raw to the world with image and text as a direct conversation with the realities of living with mental health.
My artistic practice specialises in drawing, I draw obsessively on 2D and 3D forms. My practice is inspired by literature and explores themes of womanhood, self, and the domestic. My work is decadently intricate and detailed, subverting conventional images of beauty and femininity to explore darker realities.
I was delighted to join the ECLIPSE programme because of its clear dedication to working with researchers and artists to document stories about health and the way that it impacts individuals. I am passionate about promoting direct dialogues about mental health and using art to do so.