Since I graduated from the Drawing course at Falmouth School of Art in 2022 I have been working on a series of drawings using simple geometric patterns. The aim of the series was to make images which are a point of stillness and a tool for contemplation and meditation. 

As time went on and the work developed I felt myself wanting to try and create something more specific, something which an audience could connect to through a shared and inclusive culture. I have long been interested in storytelling, especially in folk tales and mythology, and was drawn to making work about the stories I was reading. 

Whilst studying at The School of Traditional Arts, I have been deeply inspired by traditional art forms that have a strong connection to literature such as Persian and South Asian miniature painting. These works feature beautiful imagery that is enriched by knowledge of the stories they depict. Viewers of these paintings are able to access deeper layers of meaning in the work through greater understanding, enabling them to participate in a shared culture of storytelling. This is something I wanted to recreate within my own cultural context. 

I am particularly interested in British mythology, especially storytelling in the Arthurian tradition – which I believe informs and underlies the psyche of British culture, as well as connecting people to its landscape. I decided to make a series of illustrative artworks to accompany the 14th century tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an alliterative poem which contains many fascinating archetypal motifs such as the ‘beheading game’ and the journey of the hero. Out of the many stories I could have chosen, The Green Knight attracted me the most. There is something peculiarly modern about the themes in the story; they are subtle and may be interpreted in many ways. 

I have an enduring interest in early medieval Insular art especially Book Art like the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Book of Durrow and the Lichfield Gospels. These manuscripts include wonderfully complex ornamental, geometric pages called ‘cross-carpet’ pages as well as portraits of the Evangelists which often capture the essence of their subject by geometrically simplifying and flattening them into two dimensions. 

I have applied this format to the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, thereby treating it as a sacred text. To make the paintings I have attempted to immerse myself completely in the story and allow it to emerge on the page. I have combined an intuitive and improvisational method of drawing with techniques for designing complex patterns which I’ve learnt at The School. These Insular patterns such as the spirals and the interlace connect the work to the Insular art of Britain and Ireland but also give the work depth and variation. I have noted this to be an important aspect of art forms from other Traditions, for example the Islamic Tradition. The result is a series of paintings which, I hope, organically embody elements of the story and help the viewer to enter its world.