I was selected to receive the Sandro Botticelli Prize in March 2015.

My artwork THREE GRACES (2014) was published in the catalogue.

This work is my contemporary interpretation of the three graces. When I made this painting I was thinking that the ear, eye and mouth are symbols of inner beauty characterised by certain attractive feminine qualities.

I feel that those with a beautiful mind will listen very carefully to understand what is being said, they will use their eyes to see very clearly what is going on around them and their talking will be meaningful and beautiful.

Other people are deaf to the world, they only see the superficial aspects of reality and their talking is meaningless, revealing an empty mind or a narrow ugly worldview.  When people are dominated by an empty chattering mind they lose their connection with the heart.  They become vacant and hollow, lacking humanity.This work is an example of my dissolve technique, using oil based paints mixed with my own organic resin made from the roots of trees. In my work I conceal many expressive portraits as a texture.

The detail (left) illustrates a close up of the many small abstract portraits in the thighs and knees of two of the bodies in the artwork.

I hide these portraits in the texture as a symbol of  how we humans conceal our thoughts and motivations from one another and from ourselves. Humanity has perfected the art of concealment.