01/11/2019

Both my mentors Manick Govinda and Sacha Craddock suggested that my cut-out paintings would have more physical presence if the way they sit on the ground was addressed. The cut-outs are made from 6mm plywood, and propped up in a way that pleases me - a bit provisional. rather wobbly, using curvy painted sticks or pieces of white-painted baton to keep them upright, but they are liable to fall over in a strong draft.

I have different solutions to presentation, one of which is to prop the works together in an improvised way that often brings unexpected conjunctions and can lead to new ideas being generated; I've found making good compositions to be a laborious process, and mainly rely on randomly flinging things about until something randomly happens - that works better for me.

When I found to my delight that I'd been shortlisted for the Contemporary British painting prize, I still hadn't begun to resolve this problem. What works fine in the studio won't do in a public gallery, with The Public endangering my oeuvre with careless swishes of their cagouls