Dark Continent (2006-08)

Drawing is an ongoing part of my practice, although in recent years the majority of my work has been lens-based.
Drawing is for me a way of thinking which also feeds and accelerates the development of the photographic work. The idea for this series began with Freud's use of the term 'dark continent', to refer to the feminine, as that which is generally silent, outside or other in relation to the symbolic order. The starting point for many of these works were subversions of photographs taken from womens magazines, advertisements or reality TV. Others began with a memory or recollection. In both material and content, these images are found moments in which the message spills out or ruptures what is expected of the subject. In the 'Spidergirl' drawings the spider as archetypical referent of the feminine is explored as both creative force and threat.