June August

My primary theme is Art about Art.  This is largely informed by working as visiting artist in Europe and Asia, particularly, time spent in Japan.  This encouraged me to make connections among art works and artists of ostensibly disparate media and historical eras with different social, cultural and political concerns.  One of my themes:  Connection of Art and Nature. The current theme of my silkscreens emphasises women and nature.

BIOGRAPHY

As a research fellow in Japan at Tokyo National University of Arts and Music, I developed an appreciation for the complex relationship between high art of Japan’s Edo period and popular art of manga and anime in contemporary Japan.  I could see this connection in Murakami’s concept of Superflat, evident in his cartoon imagery as Mr. Dob and his mythical patterns of human flowers.

I started working on Warhol imagery after seeing a portrait show at the Jewish Museum, New York.  My colors, drawings, patterns could apply to Murakami, Warhol, Ingres, Renaissance art, Greek art, in a playful way.  

I started making silkscreens in Ireland, on a Visiting Artists Grant.  An Irish artist, printing in Cork, suggested my switching to silkscreen. This path-changing encounter with a European artist while I was working on Asian imagery is truly emblematic of the international connections of my work.