Influences

The inspiration behind my use of basketry, comes from a found photograph of my nana weaving a basket, which I discovered as I was trying to decide my specialism while studying at RCA and now traditional basketry and basketmakers such as Lois Walpole and Joe Hogan are very influential to me. Artists Ed Rossbach and Anni Albers are two big inspirations for me, I love their use of material and colour as well as their approach to textiles and craft, highlighting them within contemporary art.  

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 Your connection and relationship to the Largo/Fife area  

Fife has always been home to me in one way or another. Although I moved around a lot as a child and have lived in London for over a decade, I was born in Fife and most of my family still lives there. My parents are based in Lower Largo, making it a place I return to regularly. The Fife coast is central to my practice as it is where I first collected discarded rope and other found materials, to create my first official basket in the style I continue to work in today. My relationship with the area is rooted in both family ties and the materials and stories that connect me to the area. 

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What drives you and your aspirations 

I am driven by the desire to explore the ancient craft of basketry that is so often overlooked, and believe it should be recognised and appreciated as an art form. I feel a personal connection to basketry through wanting to explore my heritage in self taught crafts, leading me to explore basketry as both a personal and artistic practice. I am also interested in the role craft could play in the gallery. There seems to be such a connection with craft and womanhood as they are stereotypically connected to this idea of domesticity and it seems then somehow if a woman is making basketry it is expected. I want to challenge these gendered and outdated stereotypes, and the hierarchy of materials and elitism of the art world by placing my work in the gallery context where it can be appreciated as art.