Adaptability through revision and improvisation is a key motivator of my arts practice. My work considers themes of shifting ground, the weight of social expectations and the fragility of inherited narratives. They explore the dynamics of navigation in a present misaligned with the golden future that was envisaged in an earlier time. I examine the potential of human ability to adapt to changing times and environments through making adaptable, re-workable constructions from plywood. To be adaptable is to be resilient, and that requires both flexibility and strength.
 
My work consists of hybrid structures that are both sculpture and painting. They are made using temporary connections of notches and tabs, rather than glue and nails, which gives them the potential to be undone and re-assembled. Multiple planes, brought together by tension, activate, and support one another by reaching an interim understanding. They are reliant on the inter-connectedness of opposing forces. One piece can’t sustain a curve or appear to hover without the assistance or resistance of another, and a certain degree of negotiation needs to take place in the making. Holding in that moment of tension means that each work resists the idea of being finished, instead being finished for now.
 
I have adopted a methodology drawn from Professor Chantal Mouffe’s political theory of agonism which examines how conflict can be harnessed in a positive, inclusive way by agreeing to make temporary decisions, or de-cisions. De-cisions remain in the tension, making conflict productive. Rather than being dismissed, minority or dissenting voices are necessary to the process remaining open. Instead of defusing tension, opposing forces that create tension are acknowledged, then held in a state of abeyance.
 
When big things happen, not just globally but in our individual experiences, we can often stick a pin in that moment and say that’s when everything changed. These transformative moments cause breaks and fractures that then require us to adjust and reconfigure. By engaging in a process of collapse and renewal, I strive to capture moments of transition such as these and hold the tension that exists in those momentary states.
 
Precarity and the ability to adapt and evolve speak to my experience of the human condition. The need for all of us to be open to learning new ways of being in the world with each other, relinquishing fixed ideas, and adapting to positive change.