“I am interested in creating new worlds of possibility”

I have been creative for as long as I can remember. This idyllic existence, however, was ripped away when I was removed from my home due to repeated sexual abuse at 13 years of age. The lost years that followed were spent trying to survive in a hostile world by any means necessary. I ran and kept running from the abuse and the abusers that followed. I ended up in central Queensland, far from the traumas I had experienced and began to heal. I did my best to finish school but the circumstances of my life at that time would not allow. By year 11, I became extremely sick. Collapsing with pneumonia, I passed in and out of consciousness for weeks as my body began to shut down. 
They told me I would not reach 25.

After some time, I improved and found myself at a crossroads. Triggered by a kind of epiphany, I saw myself returning to art in the future. So, I enrolled in art school. I studied for two years and then enrolled at the university in a fine arts course. Here, for the first time in years, I flourished and learned that changing the world and creating an impact were key motivations. 
Then, I became pregnant.

“I am interested in shifting truths and perceptions and what exists at the thresholds of these.”

After taking centre stage at the graduating fine arts degree show, I enrolled in another university and began studying architecture. The dean welcomed me personally. Architecture was not easy with a newborn and not easy in an archaic institution that had no flexibility of delivery for people like me who did not conform to the “type” or fit within the confines of a box.

“They Don’t get to win”

I forged my path, studying under truly humble greats of sustainable architecture. My need to address cultural sustainability and our stories inspired me to seek work within heritage conservation, never completely letting go of the need to paint. The need to paint is a compulsion.

I was committed to exhibiting once a year, and for the most part, I did. After many jobs, I accomplished much. However, I never felt like I belonged. This feeling served to slingshot me back to where I started, leading me to a full-time art practice a year ago. By committing to this life, which I firmly believe I was made to do, I found my tribe again and where I truly belong.

In the last 12 months, I have attended the Bundanon residency, acquired a residency at the Broken Hill Art Exchange and was awarded 1st place in the International Women's Day Art Prize.
And I am only just getting started....