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Form and depth have always been key areas in my work, particularly how to make a subject appear three dimensional, despite it being presented on a flat surface such as paper, canvas, laptop or a phone screen. When I was younger and painting landscapes, I found that the more detail I added to subjects such as trees, the flatter the artwork became. So I began simplifying things and eventually developed a geometric style where tree foliage appeared as solid cube like structures. Despite this not being accurate photographically, the results were something I preferred as it had this form which I was after.
Over the years I modified and updated this theme, every so often having little breakthroughs with a design or lighting technique and so on. A significant one was opening up these geometric shapes, a bit like unfolding a cardboard box, which resulted in a new aesthetic and direction that I was happier with - still retaining the form but less clunky and more delicate. I also moved away from observational figurative or landscape subjects, instead often preferring entirely abstract compositions. This enabled me more freedom to further develop these 'folded paper' type structures and continue testing different colour, pattern + lighting ideas more effectively. In terms of inspiration, firstly there are the countless artists in different galleries around the world and online whose work I study and enjoy. But away from the traditional painting my early work creating 3d animation for video games, television and film also gave me lots of ideas too especially with regards to lighting effects. I still avidly follow all the amazing technological developments happening today such as Unreal Engine 5.5 with its new 'megalights' update that I keep learning from + try to emulate in my work. Lego Ninjago toys are another big inspiration too with their highly inventive designs + beautiful colour schemes and of course Japanese culture with Origami, Kirigami, Chiyogami, Transformers and Gunpla robots all playing a role in shaping my work too.
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