My paintings create an uncanny space, enticing the viewer into a world poised between the real and the surreal, a world that is both tangible and illusory. Positioned centrally in my work, dolls are a recurring motif. I view them as explorations of self, a non-binary avatar aligned to my own personality, tastes, and memories. The dolls are a form of drag. Purchased as blanks, I make-up and dress the dolls from scratch, determining their persona over the course of their transformation. They offer a way for me to inhabit the painting both as the artist and subject.

Within the paintings there is a slippage, not only in the way that the watercolour resists the gesso panel, but also in the subjects. The colours are heightened and saturated, meticulously rendered to create a sense of unreality. The sources are intentionally perplexing, filtered through my own interpretation of the artist they draw inspiration from. The paintings might include a glimpse of an artwork, a collectable toy, or a chintzy ornament that offers a lure to distract from an underlying cognitive rupture. Located in the studio, the myriad references coalesce to create a dual space, one that is both physical and psychological. My paintings merge still life and the imagination, creating a self-contained subconscious world within a single painted plane, where there is room for exploration of an un-gendered liminal space.

CV

Born, lives and works in Manchester, UK.  Co-founder and director of PAPER gallery.

Education:

2022-23: Contemporary Art Academy
2017-20:     Turps Banana Correspondence Course
2010-14:     Graduate Teaching Assistantship with PhD, University of Salford
2008-10:    Master of Fine Art, Liverpool John Moores University
1993-96:     BA (Hons) Fine Art, Manchester Metropolitan University

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2024: The Omnipotence of Dream, Salford Museum & Art Gallery
2021:           A Still Life, The Whitaker, Rossendale, UK
2019:           A Still Life, The New School House Gallery, York
2015:           Cosplay, Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge
2015:           Cosplay, Howarth Art Centre, Livingston
2014:           Cosplay, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe
2013:           Cosplay, Wolverhampton Art Gallery
2013:           Cosplay, Touchstones, Rochdale
2011:            Time to Pretend, Hub, Manchester
2010:           Game, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe
2008:          That’s Not My Name, The Agency, London
2007:          How Can Someone so Young Sing Words So Sad, Transit, Mechelen, Belgium
2006:          Who Will Eat my Sadness, The Agency, London
2005:          The Beautiful People, The City Gallery, Leicester
2004:          Jane Says…, Cooper Gallery, Barnsley
2003:          The Beautiful People, Comme Ca Gallery, New York, USA
2003:          The Beautiful People, Kirkby Gallery, Kirkby Liverpool
2003:          The Beautiful People, The Storey Gallery, Lancaster
2002:          The Beautiful People, DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China
2002:          The Beautiful People, Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax
2001:           The Beautiful People, View 2 Gallery, Liverpool
2001:           The Beautiful People, Chorlton Mill Gallery, Manchester
2000:          The Beautiful People, Cartwright Hall, Bradford
2000:          The Horrible People, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1998:           The Beautiful People, Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby
1997:            Princess Leia was my first Kiss, Phillips Contemporary Art, Manchester

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2023: A Generous Space 3, Huddersfield Art Gallery
2023: Doll, The House of Smalls, Cotswolds, UK
2023: New Acquistions, The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2023: Stage, Kingsgate Project Space, London (curated by LLE)
2022: Carry on Baggage, Galeria Augustine, Lisbon, Portugal
2022:          RBSA Print Prize, Birmingham, UK
2020:          Beep Painting Biennale, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
2019:           Personal Structures, The PAPER Pavilion, Palazzo Mora, Venice
2018:           Heartbeats, Galerie Parnasse, Aarhus, Denmark
2018:           Lost in Space, Art Projects, London Art Fair (with PAPER & LLE)
2017:           The Sense of Things, Durden & Ray, Los Angeles, USA
2017:           Native, Tokyo, Japan
2017:           Semiotic Guerrilla Warfare pt IV, Charlie Smith London
2016:           Into the Deep Woods, Leo 15, Lucerne & PAPER
2016:           Semiotic Guerrilla Warfare pt III, Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax
2015:           P, Horatio Junior, London
2015:           Semiotic Guerrilla Warfare pt I, PAPER, Manchester
2014:           A Union of Voice, Horatio Junior, London
2014:           Snow in Summer, Peek-a-boo Gallery, Perth, Australia
2014:           Manchester Connexions, The New School House Gallery, York
2014:           ID, Hanmi Gallery, London
2014:           Far Lands, Millenium Galleries, Sheffield
2014:           Human Clay Revisited, The Ropewalk, Barton upon Humber
2012:           Polemically Small, Orleans House Musem, London
2011:            Polemically Small, Charlie Smith, London
2011:            In Safekeeping, The New Schoolhouse Gallery, York
2011:            Future Can’t Wait, Torrance Art Museum, California
2011:            Citizen, TactileBosch, Cardiff
2011:            Marmite Painting Prize III, Lanchester Gallery, Coventry & The Nunnery, London
2010:           Marmite Painting Prize III, Central Gallery, Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester
2010:           This is England, The Aubin Gallery, London & Galleria Uno+Uno, Milan, Italy
2010:           Anti Design Festival, London/Newcastle Space, London
2010:           Salon 8, Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong
2009:          The Lure & The Seducer, Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen, Denmark
2009:          Connexions, Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg, Denmark
2009:          Karma-1, Gallery 44a, Istanbul, Turkey
2008:          The Future Can Wait II (curated by Ellis & Rumley) Truman’s Brewery, London
2008:          Kapellmeister pulls a Doozy, Seven Seven Gallery, London
2008:          The Past is History (curated by Ellis & Rumley) Changing Role, Naples & Rome, Italy
2008:          The New London School (curated by Ellis, Rumley & Max Presneil), Mark Moore, LA, USA
2007:           Teenage Kicks (curated by Melanie Moreau), Vegas Gallery, London
2007:           The Future Can Wait, (curated by Ellis & Rumley) Truman’s Brewery, London
2006:           I-POD Killed the Video Star (curated by Ken Pratt), Showroomama, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2006:           I Ain’t No Yesterday’s News, Gallery Likovni Krug , Exitfest, Serbia & Tour
2005:           Portreto Formate, ARKA Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania & Tour
2005:           Children of the Grave- Masters of Reality (with Ross Sinclair), The Agency London
2005:           Young Masters, (curated by Flora Fairburn), Art Fortnight London
2005:           Hand in Hand we Walk Alone, Clapham Art Gallery
2004:           Forever Beautiful, Clapham Art Gallery, London
2003:           Thermo 03, The Lowry, Manchester
2002:           A Word from our Sponsors, Liverpool Biennial Independents 02
2002:           Perverse Pop, Catto Contemporary, London
2002:           The Battle for Realism, (curated by James Hyman) Inside Space, Selfridges, London
2001:            BP Portrait Award 2001, National Portrait Gallery, London
2000:           Inferno, LMN Project, Guildhall, Newcastle
2000:           BP Portrait Award 2000, National Portrait Gallery, London
1999:            John Moores 21, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1996:            Northern Graduates, Royal College of Art, London

Self-curated Group Shows:

2012:            Digital Romantics, Dean Clough, Halifax & Aubin Gallery, London
2007:           Fantasising Fairies, 501 Art Space, Chongqing
2007:           Faith, Dean Clough, Halifax & Gallery Primo Alonso
2006:           I’ll Be Your Mirror, Liverpool Biennial Independents 06 & Gallery Primo Alonso, London
2006:           Jerusalem, Dean Clough, Halifax
2006:          Manchester, So Much to Answer For, Warsaw Projects, Manchester
2004:          Le Petit Paysage, Liverpool Biennial Independents 04 & Comme Ca, Manchester
2004:          We Didn’t Mean to be Bad Kids, TV Made Us Do It, Warrington Museum & Art Gallery,           
                    Hertfordshire University, St Albans & Collins Gallery, Glasgow
2002:          I’ll be your Mirror, Warsaw Projects, Manchester

Live Art Performances
Collaborative performance with Yingmei Duan

2011:            Once Upon a Time, BS Visite, Braunschweig, Germany
2010:           Pathological Aesthetics, Performance festival and Symposium at University of Applied Sciences Nijmegen, Netherlands
2009:          Dreams, at Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester, UK

Awards:

2015:           A-N Artist Development Bursary
2010:           Arts Council Development Grant
2007:          British Council CtC Development Grant
2002:          British Council for DDM Warehouse Residency
2002:          Shortlisted for BOC Emerging Artist Award 2002
2001:           City Life’sVisual Arts Exhibition of the Year 2001
2001:           Shortlisted for Fresh Artist 2001 Award
2001:           Northwest Arts Board- Individual Artists Award
2001:           Commended in BP Portrait Award
1998:           Northwest Arts Board- Individual Artists Award

Residencies:

2011:           York Theatre Royal
2007:         501Art Space, Chongqing, China
2004:         Pyramid Arts Centre, Warrington
2002:         DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China
1998:          Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

Public Collections:

Gallery Oldham
The Atkinson, Southport
The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
The Whitaker, Rossendale
Touchstones, Rochdale
Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Others Projects:

2017: Co-Founded & Director of the Fourdrinier Magazine
2012:          Co-Founded & Director of PAPER, Manchester
2009:         Established Mirabel Studios, Manchester
2008:         Co-Founded ‘Art Group’, a peer group of Manchester-based Artists
2002-4:     Established and curated Warsaw Projects @ Open Art Studios, Manchester offering emerging artists their first solo exhibition
2005:         Published the artists books ‘A Cure for Everything’ & ‘Lost Beneath the Waves’ by Brya Weths