My work is about the mapping of an inner landscape - giving shape to the hidden geography in which my spirituality and artistic practice have their roots. The former has evolved within the traditions of Christian belief and contemplative prayer, the latter has been shaped by twentieth century modernism, itself largely resistant to Christian influences. My personal journey has been a quest to reconcile these two aspects of my life - "To speak what is difficult to speak when it is not made to speak it."

I try to distil the essence of a place by engaging directly with the materials to be found there through mark-making with twigs, moss or my fingers using ink, earth, peat and mud as media. The immediacy of this first encounter is changed into a more intuitive and contemplative working process, modifying the record of the first encounter and connecting with deeper, more hidden levels of perception.

The ideas generated are then given tangible, visual form, an activity which can, as the sculptor Louise Nevelson has said, involve a "... painful search within".

My intention is to use the materials, concepts and aesthetic of contemporary art as a way of apprehending something of the mystery and presence at the heart of life, without compromising either artistic integrity or spiritual truth.

"Landscape is the first-born of all creation … It is the most ancient presence in the world though it needs a human presence to acknowledge it."

John O'Donohue Anam Cara