MAGICIAN'S KITCHEN

"This scene recalls card 1 in the Rider-Waite tarot, ‘The Magician’. In the original, an instrument from each suit (wand, cup, coin, sword) is set on the bench before them. It is a card of empowerment, suggesting they have all the tools needed to create what they wish. I think of painting as alchemy. Material becomes immaterial; finite becomes infinite; low value becomes high."

"On my bench, there’s a rose, scissors & a vase with flowers. I often depict flowers in my work so the rose was a clue that this trio could mirror my - & the broader - process of creation. Together they are a(n oversimplified) formula for transformation: raw material + physical tool for shaping + vessel = new thing(s). ‘New thing(s)’ as often what’s created is manifold & unfolding - a painting, a mindset shift, gratitude…"

"I chose ‘Kitchen’ over 'Bench’ for its domesticity. Homes are scenes where the everyday magic of mindful acts of care - like cooking food or arranging flowers - can take place. This was the first painting I created and completed entirely in my own new home, after moving from London to Gloucestershire earlier that month."