Contemporary Artist

New Sculptural Work in Ink : In my art I have a language that represents me. My sculptural ink is ink reconstituted from my childhood. The traditional ink stick is utilized in Chinese calligraphy and painting, traditionally dried then ground into liquid using water on a stone, and dates back to 12 century BC. The ink is made with animal by-product; it is mortal, and transforms over time. The material I make in the studio applies these ancient ink making methods for my sculptural works. Working with a material with historical and personal resonance reflects on fluidity, reconciliation and self-discovery. I am motivated by the liberation of form, language and place from the boundaries of conventionality. My aim is to consider the profound meaning of identity in our time and using ink to tell my story in history.

In 2014, I visited Guilin China and encountered a 'water prison' in a preserved limestone river cave dwelling - a trench as deep as 8ft eroded over time by the river tides that had held prisoners left to die by drowning - and reinterpreted it as my body as a water prison in a site specific performance in an underground bunker in Shanghai China. Revisiting the Chinese ink stick by using it to mark the walls recalled memories from childhood. The lines not only renegotiate with body, form and place, mortality and transcendence, it also draws a line from which I began to reclaim the ancient ink as my own.

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Video with audio please