As an artist, I have always been drawn to the human figure and face. I am particularly interested in the way our modern western culture blindly worships youth, beauty and fecundity, whilst abhorring any signs of ageing. Indeed, death, senescence and the inevitable decline of physical strength are all viewed with horror and vigorously resisted in an apparent refusal to comprehend and accept the inescapably cyclical nature of the human and natural world.

 

The female elders that I am drawn to represent, have faces that reveal a lifetime’s experience, integrity, knowledge and wisdom. In ancient times, these elders and their distinctively feminine knowledge and wisdom would have been valued and heeded, providing a vital balance to masculine wisdom. It is becoming more and more apparent that this is a balance that our modern world urgently and desperately needs.

 

Sometimes my focus is on just half the face. This is a very deliberate reflection of the invisibility that so many elders feel, a disheartening sense of being only ‘half seen’ and ‘half valued’. Nevertheless, these ‘half’ faces manage to convey remarkable depth, power and emotion.

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Using charcoal, graphite, teas, watercolour and ink, these images unapologetically highlight the hard-earned lines, marks and patterns that age has bestowed on these beautiful faces. Their skin reflects their spirit and holds a lifetime of memories, emotions and experience. My current work seeks to celebrate these memories, emotions and experience.