Featured Artwork: 'Openness'

‘Openness’, Mixed Media on Canvas, 80 x 100cm, 2024.

Growing up I struggled to express my emotions. I found it very difficult to be open with others, mainly because I wasn’t open with myself and didn’t recognise a lot of what was going on in my head. I struggled with empathy and often failed to recognise emotions in others. This would impact on my relationships and I struggled to build lasting connection with people in my life.

When I discovered mindfulness and practiced being with my thoughts and confronting myself, I found over time I could be much more open in all aspects of my life. I still find regular meditation practice an essential part of keeping connected to my emotions and being able to recognise others feelings.

Human experience is eclectic and chaotic, with many contrasting sensations, emotions and thoughts. This piece reflects that mixed sensations of being alive, each medium is like a different language describing a different facet of our journey through life.

Nothing endures but change and this mixed-media painting is a celebration of that. The edges of the painting are left loose and the canvas is left raw to give an unfinished look, to reflect that everyone's life is a work in progress.