One of the treasures on my bookcase is a small, soft-covered, catalogue of an exhibition of the paintings of the seventeenth century Zen-Master Sengai. Perhaps, more than any other, this ancient artist influences the way I would like to paint. His exuberant style captures the essential movement and feeling of his subjects with exquisite economy.
My figurative artwork has concentrated on exploring my relationships; with my sisters, my father, my marriage, my beach community and most recently, my mother. My expression of these relationships is most un-Zen-like. There are twists and tangles and tumult. But as I examine each through my art I feel increasingly closer to achieving the calm and the humour that I so admire in the master Sengai.
A turning point occurred in my artistic journey in 1989 when I accompanied a group of scientists into the centre of Australia as a photographer. In the desert, a 360-degree horizon induces a feeling of being centred. In this serene space, surrounded by the panorama, for the first time, I looked inward and found the place from which to start the on-going conversation about life that is my art.
Pinning down influences in my art would be difficult. I admire so many artists My favourites are those that use paint and colour with exuberance and strength. Arthur Boyd is a particular hero along with Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon. In Cairns, I saw the work of Aboriginal artist, Judy Watson for the first time. Burnt shield (2002) was a work that I responded to on a deep emotional level. It is, at once, extremely powerful and extremely fragile. The work is about returning to the country of her mother and grandmother.