Bend Over Backwards

Life is full of contradictions and mixed emotions which I try to untangle with a dash of humour. I think that if people laugh, hopefully in recognition, they make a connection with me and what I am attempting to convey in my narrative sculptures.

The themes I gravitate towards have their roots in a childhood and early adulthood in South Africa. Having a Scottish mother, an Irish father, and a Welsh surname meant I often felt like an outsider in a deeply racist and sexist culture.

My undergraduate work focused on the highly problematic position of women in South African society. Some threads of those concerns remain in my work where I use animals as metaphors for perceived hierarchies which I like to prod.

I left South Africa in 1990 and after travel in Europe and a chequered career; I am finally able to focus on my sculpture. Following a PGCE at Exeter University, I worked in education teaching art and ceramics to a wide variety of students.

Now I teach far less but value the contact with students who work through their hopes and fears with clay in my ceramics studio in Devon, UK.