My favourite and noisiest painting from the Fluttering on the Surface series, Leheriya has been selected for the 2024 Sunshine Coast National Art Prize.

Artist Statement: Leheriya

I have been using the grid system of square and semi-circle as an organising principle for my geometric abstractions for some time. Intertwined is the need to explore figure/ground hierarchies and processes of embedding, overlay and transparency/opacity. Inspired by the colours and textile designs in south Asia, Leheriya alludes to a type of Rajasthani woven fabric and forms part of a new body of work that explores colour and optical perception. I employ labour intensive repetitive methods of working using a compass, ruler, paint and graphite which become both aids to and of meditation. It’s been 8 years since I travelled through India, Iran and Southern Spain, but only now am I beginning to get close those wondrous feelings of sitting on the cold, tiled floor of a Masjid in Isfahan where pattern descends, envelops and overwhelms.