‘Looking for Venus’ is one in a series of work started in the early 2000s that explore an individual experience of a body and femininity that do not conform to a contemporary Western ideal-or modern Venus.
Conceptally and visually there are many similarities in my responses to the seemingly disparate themes of landscape and feminism, and I am exploring bringing these together to create a narrative around the pressure on women to conceal their ‘natural’ selves and signs of ageing.
An enduring obsession with the simple abstract beauty of distressed surfaces in a variety of environments is a recurring theme in my work. Careful composition and ʻaccidentalʼ colour relationships provide endless possibilities for images which still the impact of nature on human endeavour.
In this instance the source is trains in various states of repair/disrepair. This series continues on every visit to Bridgnorth, Chasewater, or Churnet, or anywhere the restoration of heritage railways is happening.
