These mixed medium canvases are a combination of oil painting and photographic techniques. The surreal compositions are origioinally constructed as collage, before being transformed into large scale mixed medium canvases, a combination of oil painting and darkroom photography. the difference between a collage and a painting is: when viewing a painting or a photograph, it presents itself at once as a signal image, so we accept and believe what we see and attempt to understand it; whilst viewing a collage however, it is plain too see that the composition is invented and therefore impossible. the photographic methods used provide a closer integration between collage and painting, and allow for the surreal depiction to be viewed as a signal image, challenging our understanding of what we are seeing.
This series creates a fictional narrative, recognisable to the beholder as we identify the figures, the landscapes and the events unfolding; yet they cannot be understood. The more we consider the scenarios taking place before us, the less we realise it. The viewer is left to define the nature of the painting and events unfolding.