Tell us about your creative process. What drives your practice?

Through the development of my practice I have taken a fairly traditional approach to my practice, particularly the printmaking side. However, I feel that as I work on establishing myself more as an emerging artist, I have embraced experimentation and allowed contemporary trends influence some aspects of my work. The primary form of printmaking in my practice would be lithography. Evolving from my drawing practice, I use the techniques of lithography to produce figurative illustrations, mostly focusing on portraiture and urban landscapes. This representational approach to matrix development is still a major part of my practice, which i also consider a research tool, drawing as a way to explore and understand images and the physicality of a narrative.

Following my honours research and the production of my final work, Prohibition, Prostitution, Perjury (2018), my practice is in a weird space of limbo, caught between my traditional training and more contemporary methodologies. During my honours, I rediscovered Lino and relief printing, and began experimenting with ‘low-quality’ materials, text, and installation. I’m not yet sure how these will manifest within my practice and future work, but I’m excited to see where it goes.

Talk about the strong females in your artworks.

Women and female experience have always been a huge part of my conceptual practice. My HSC body of work looked at gender stereotypes and inequality in the workplace, whilst my earlier work at uni was concerned with representations of famous women, from Marilyn Monroe to Michelle Obama to Kendall Jenner. I have always been interested in how the person presented to us by the media differs from the reality of who they are.

For the past eighteen months or so I’ve been consumed with the history of 1920s Sydney razor gangs, particularly focusing on the figures of Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh. I was looking for alternative celebrities, I was curious about our fascination with notorious personalities, and stumbled across these badass women. When I think of Prohibition-era gangsters, I usually think of men in trenchcoats lurking in the shadows, but in Sydney, the organised crime landscape was dominated by women, both as mob bosses and as prostitutes with celebrity status. These women are impressive for holding so much power within a very patriarchal society and professional environment, as well as their ability to also maintain their gender roles as mothers and wives.

Are there any female printmakers or artists that influence you?

Ever since I was introduced to them, I have been obsessed with the Guerrilla Girls. They are some boss ass bitches. I find the image of the Grande Odalisque with the gorilla mask so striking, a powerful protest against the male gaze and traditional representations of the female, reclaiming her women. Their dedication to calling out institutions and demanding a space and a voice for female artists through fine and public art is empowering. I thank them for paving the way and opening up a space for artists like myself, that I can make art about women, fighting for women, and not be brushed off as just another angry feminist.

Finally, what exciting projects are you working on at the moment?

I’m currently working on a lithograph for a print exchange project organised by Rona Green. The theme is ‘splendacious’, so I decided to depict the Lord Milner Hotel in Matjiesfontein, a grand old hotel in a colonial town in the middle of the South African desert. We have chewed through roughly half of the edition but as is the way of lithography, the stone has become temperamental. Hoping that our last round of troubleshooting has brought it back from the dead - fingers crossed!

I am also about to embark on a twelve to eighteen month trip overseas, stopping off in the US, UK and Europe. Looking forward to exploring all the galleries and museums, and experiencing some of the rich cultures beyond our shores.