Q: Your art career emerged from grief…would you mind speaking on that?
A: My love of creating, and essentially the seed of an art vocation, began in my earliest memories. It was always meant to be. However, as I grew up I put career safety before my dreams. That was until the 20th of October 2016 when my husband died, taking all his dreams with him. It was then that the reality of my short stay on Earth really hit home. The window to follow something deep within one's soul is short, and circumstances to follow those dreams are probably never ideal. So with that in mind, I took the plunge and made the (essentially) impractical decision to be a full-time artist.
Q: An underlying theme in your work is loss and how loss can lead to personal realignment. Can you please elaborate on this?
A: There is an ancient Chinese process of mending ceramics with lacquer & gold. It is called 'Kintsugi'. The cracks are not hidden but emphasised. So too is loss. You can hide it, let it embitter you or you can use tragedy to realign your thinking. Gold & beauty lie beneath the surface. It is there, just waiting. My husband's death shattered me, but I have allowed the cracks to be mended with gold. I choose now to see beauty where I would normally not have, and my hope is to reflect that in my work.
Q: I read that you hope that your art acts as a passage to another space. Why is that?
A: This life keeps you so busy and almost glorifies slaving for money. I wish to pull people back to a quiet space. A moment where time does not matter and the mind & body are still. One of my favourite quotes by poet Rumi reads "There is a voice that doesn't use works. Listen.”
I would like for my work to be the reason one sits down to seek what only silence can offer, and that is a moment to reflect, to hope, to pray. A moment with God.
