My paintings follow a ‘system’ and a set of restraints that determine colour, composition and scale. Working from a colour-coded alphabet, the titles for each painting are extremely important as they are the starting point for making; from this point each piece follows a basic set of rules - working from left to right, top to bottom.
I explore the physicality of paint in line with my interest in dementia. Working in a repetitious manner, I create individual patterns and repeated geometric shapes which form a grid-like structure. The grids provide a level of control over the paint which is otherwise unrestricted.
The build-up of layers expresses the passing of time. As the paint gains depth and weight, gravity and a lack of control come into play, causing the paint to fall away, with cells merging into one another. In many ways the paintings relate to uncontrollable events that happen in life, and several pieces imply the notion of the mind – and life - falling apart.
Graduated 2016, Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, B.A. (Hons.), Fine Art: Painting. Grade 2.1.
Awards
2016 - John Gray Legacy Award- Gray’s School of Art.
ACT Graduate Award- Aberdeen Arts Centre & Theatre.
Shortlisted for the Generator annual exhibition ‘They Had Four Years’- Generator Projects Dundee.
2015 - Keith Prize, RSA Open 2015- Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Shortlisted for GDF SUEZ Award at RGU 2015- Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
Exhibitions
2021 - July-September: May your thoughts write the rest? Duff House, Banff.
2019 - May: Edges of What? The Dundas Street Gallery, Edinburgh.
February: Fresh Thoughts. Upright Gallery, Edinburgh.
2018 - May-June: Introducing Toni Harrower. Art & Craft Collective, Edinburgh.
March- Open Exhibition SSA & VAS Together. The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
March- April: The Real and the Remembered. Elgin Library.
2017 - November: Edge-lands. Moray Art Centre.
June-July: A Closer Look. Nairn Art Centre.
2016 - October: Group exhibition- GC08, Lines to Paint. Aberdeen Arts Centre & Theatre.
September-November: Mixed Exhibition. Newave Gallery, Aberdeen.
September: Qualia. Number Seventeen Gallery, Aberdeen.
August: Emerging Artist, New Talent. Veronica Lynch Fine and Applied Arts Gallery, Dunblane.
July: Represent by Holburn Gallery, Aberdeen.
June: Best of Degree show 2016. Six Foot Gallery, Glasgow.
June: Degree Show. Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen.
March: Group exhibition-Stuffed Gallery. Newave Gallery, Aberdeen.
March: Interim Show. Gallery 1, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh.
2015 - RSA Open Exhibition. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
Group Exhibition: Paintings and Drawings, Newave Gallery, Aberdeen.
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