Art as contradiction. So I wanted these paintings to create an illusion of calmness and serenity in a world gone mad. Catachreza explores the worlds that people create for themselves in the hope to control and manage at least a part of their existence.

Singular young people look in on themselves, crouched, prostrate, alone, calm, quiet. While all around them flowers bloom, trees blossom and the bright vivid colours of summer flourish with a flat graphic boldness. It is an aesthetic which invites a sense of calm and serenity. And it is an aesthetic which contrasts to the subdued, opaque familiarity of floors and walls of dull suburban homes.

The result is the reality versus the possible versus the dream – art as contradiction. The contradiction in my mind that, in today’s chaos, everybody is hiding from reality – building their own alternative realities and walls to protect themselves from non-acceptance.

The title Catachreza is derived from catachresis, which means “a word or phrase being used in a way which significantly departs from conventional usage”.

One of my inspirations for this collection was the work of photographer Timothy Archibald.