About

Obsession, repetition and compulsion are three words that are crucial to my work. I draw what artist and writer David Maclagan has named, Meta-doodles. A Meta-doodle is a doodle that has been given more time and space to grow. I believe that there may be links between my fascination with repetition and my Asperger’s syndrome. I also believe that there may be links to other psychological disorders such as ADHD and OCD.  In short I feel that the rhythmic feel of the pen on paper may benefit the Autistic in the same way that their stimming does; I feel that in the same way that individuals with ADHD use fidget toys to keep themselves focused they may find similar effects when doodling and finally OCD may cause an individual to become fixated on doodling in a similar way to intrusive thoughts.

 

This leads nicely into outsider art; outsider art was originally art created by psychiatric patients, this later developed into work by the mentally ill, works by those who were in prison and finally to what it is now considered to be which is work by the artistically untrained. Often I feel that my work is being placed within the outsider art title. I believe that this is because most of the works that have a similar look to mine are considered to be Outsider art. In reality my work shouldn’t be considered Outsider Art because I am definitely not artistically untrained.

 

In the same way that I can become lost whilst making my works others often find the same when viewing it. “a mysterious and seductive delicacy to her work that puts the viewer under its spell and draws them in.” I think this is due to the slight differences in each mark that I make. No one can repeat perfectly one shape after another and I believe that it is the small changes such as the pressure of your pen that creates interest in a work like mine.

“If an action or experience is repeated for long enough, it soon becomes apparent that there is no such thing as a repeated action or experience. It will be different each time. No two footsteps will ever be identical. It depends on what trainers we’re wearing, the weather, the terrain, our mood, how tired we are and so forth.”

 

I have recently been considering when a work is finished, this stemmed from my original use of horror Vacui. I came to the conclusion that my works are collections of marks on paper and just like a collection my works are never truly finished. When we really think about it, is an artwork ever truly finished anyway? Along with this exploration I have also been considering the feel of a work depending on the placement of my patterns as well as allowing my patterns to have a more organic feel to them by allowing them to have holes rather than them being one solid pattern.

 

Three main influences to me are Carlo Keshisian, Yayoi Kusama and David Maclagan’s writings. For me Kusama and Keshisian’s works hold a similar understanding to that of my work. There work inspires me to be more and more obsessive in every piece I make. David Maclagan’s writings for example, Line Let Loose have helped me to develop my own understanding of my works. Moving forward I can see my works progressing to repetition of a different kind, repeating objects or processes rather than just marks.

 

 

“As artists, we search for that thing which is unknown to us. And in order to find it, we need to get lost sometimes – to go beyond what we know.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Castlefield Gallery. (2015). Inside Out. [Online]. Available from: [14/01/16].

Halliwell. L. (N.D) Writings. [Online]. Available from: [14/01/16].

Halliwell. L. (N.D) Writings. [Online]. Available from: [14/01/16].