Drawing is a way of slowing down time: I become fully absorbed in the process, often not feeling present in the world but present on the paper.

I work with a variety of papers but my favourite paper is Chinese Xuan paper. It is both fragile and strong and acts as a metaphor for the precariousness and resilience of the body and as a cultural substrate, i.e. it is one of the ways in which I reference my cultural heritage.

The marks are usually made with ink, watercolour and marker pens and the work can be very colourful or more limited in their chromatic range. I often use metallic gold paint or markers because of gold’s association with healing.

The spontaneous marks result from ink or paint that has seeped through from other drawings so that the drawing has a history, to which I respond, working across the picture plane, both leading and following these marks, and recording the passing of time. The longer the drawing lasts the more intricate it becomes, the more likely it is to spread, or for its orientation to alter.

I usually work in series, sticking with a theme for a while and then starting a new cycle of work, sometimes then returning to an earlier theme.