My art practice centres around colour and architecture, the works reference a nostalgic attachment to places and structures that are often overlooked or neglected. I am also drawn to public spaces that are part of the ‘everyday’ experience, those that are easily accessible and functional, developing familiarity over time; I form an emotional connection to these environments.
As a starting point, my research involves collecting archive images and visiting existing buildings and spaces to photograph. Using these images as a visual tool, I then rework the colours and shapes to produce a reimagined yet familiar representation of the space. Acknowledging that feelings of nostalgia can bring about complex bittersweet emotions, I attempt to capture something beautiful yet jarring in my work.
Using mainly paint as my preferred medium, I have built up a large body of work that includes temporary and permanent Public Art commissions.
Living and working in Middlesbrough, North East England.
As a starting point, my research involves collecting archive images and visiting existing buildings and spaces to photograph. Using these images as a visual tool, I then rework the colours and shapes to produce a reimagined yet familiar representation of the space. Acknowledging that feelings of nostalgia can bring about complex bittersweet emotions, I attempt to capture something beautiful yet jarring in my work.
Using mainly paint as my preferred medium, I have built up a large body of work that includes temporary and permanent Public Art commissions.
Living and working in Middlesbrough, North East England.
C.V.
EDUCATION
2019 MA in Fine Art (Distinction), MIMA School of Art
2009 BA (Hons) in Fine Art, Teesside University
1994 HND in Design, Berkshire College of Art & Design
1992 Diploma in Art & Design, Cleveland College of Art & Design
COMMISSIONS
2025 Production of an Edition of 10 Screen Prints London Transport Museum, commissioned by Durham University & Platform A Gallery
2024 Site specific work - Public, Middlesbrough Moquette, Middlesbrough Train Station. Commissioned by Middlesbrough Council
2022 Site specific work - Public, South Bank Station, Oil on metal bridge, 150 x 154cm, The Secret Gallery and Black Path Project. Commissioned by The Saabat Gallery, supported by Groundswork NE and funded by River Tees Rediscovered
2022 Site specific work – Gallery, The Masham Commission, Vinyl emulsion on wall, 4 x 3m, The Masham, Middlesbrough. Commissioned by Navigator North
2021 Site specific work - Gallery, Pink Walkway, Vinyl emulsion on wall, 9 x 4.75m, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA)
2021 Design of 2 Doodle Sheets for MIMA's Atrium, commissioned by MIMA
2021/22 Site specific work - Public, Middlesbrough Public Art Commissions, Middlesbrough. Car Park Stairway located on the Cleveland Centre, Digital print on aluminium, 3 x 4m and Broadcasting House Reimagined located on the Brentnall Business Centre, Digital print on aluminium, 2 x 2.5m. Commissioned by Middlesbrough Council & Navigator North
2019 Site Specific Work - Gallery, Yellow Parallels, Vinyl emulsion on wall, 11 x 3.7m, The Auxiliary
2016 Site Specific Work - Gallery, Register Office (Still Standing), Acrylic on wall, Dimensions variable, Platform A Gallery
2018 Artists Live Here, Artists Work Here, Middlesbrough Town Hall Flagpoles
2014 Site Specific Work- Public, Speaker, Acrylic and vinyl on wall, Dimensions variable, Brentnall Business Centre, 65 Gilkes Street, Middlesbrough
AWARDS
2025 Art Network North East Bursary Award
2025 Shortlisted for Tees Valley Artist of the Year
2023/24 Art Network North East Bursary Award
2023 a-n Artists Bursary Award
2020 Tees Valley Response Collecting Scheme – 2 paintings acquired for MIMA'S Middlesbrough Collection
2019 Creative Factory Production Grant Award (Creative Factory is Middlesbrough Council's Great Places Tees Valley Project)
2015 MIMA Artist’s Bursary
2014 MIMA Visual Arts Bursary
2014 Platform A Gallery Mentoring Program (mentored by Lothar Goetz)
RESIDENCIES
2024 Artist in Residence, Full Circle Program at VARC in Northumberland
2023 Artist in Residence with The Auxiliary Group at VARC in Northumberland
2016-17 Artist in Residence (AA2A project) at Teesside University
2014-15 Artist in Residence (AA2A project) at Teesside University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 DOWN TOWN, The Masham, Middlesbrough
2021 Above Ground, Gallagher and Turner, Newcastle
2018 High Rise, The Calver Gallery, South Square Centre
2016/17 Altered Space, Platform A Gallery
2015 Emma Bennett, The Tunnel Gallery, Middlesbrough
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
2026 Simulcast 3, Redcar Contemporary
2025 Printed Response, Platform A Gallery
2025 The Secret Lives of Bottle of Notes, MIMA
2024 Legacy, Platform A Gallery
2024 Working Lives, MIMA
2024 MUNICIPAL, 50 MV, Liverpool
2022/24 The Story of the Middlesbrough Collection, MIMA
2023 From the Urban to the Rural, Middlesbrough Art Week
2022 A Generous Space 2, The New Gallery Walsall
2021/22 Ten Years, Platform A Gallery
2021 Sonia Boyce: In the Castle of My Skin (Led and co-curated by Sonia Boyce), Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA)
2021 BRUTAL, Saul Hay Gallery, Manchester
2020 DANCE FIRST THINK LATER, General Practice, Lincoln
2020 Traces of Reality, PS Mirabel, Manchester
2019 LEGACY - 50 years of painting in the Tees Valley, The Auxiliary
2019 MAJOR CONVERSATIONS: The Industrial Narrative, The Turnpike, Leigh
2019 MATERIALS, Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough Art Weekender
2019 MA Fine Art Degree Show, MIMA School of Art
2019 Marked Transitions, The Auxiliary
2018 Manchester Contemporary showing with Platform A Gallery
2017 Magical Geometry, Chapel Gallery, Lancashire
2015 SELFHOODS, The Constantine Gallery, Middlesbrough
2015 Beyond Repetition, The Bowery Gallery, Leeds
2015 GROUNDED, Platform A Gallery
2009 Fine Art Degree Show, Teesside University
PRIZES & OPEN SUBMISSION
2026 Memento Amoris, Lido Stores, Margate
2026 OPO open 2026, Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough
2025 Auto Amor Project, Vol. 1 & 2, London
2025 Longlisted for John Moores Painting Prize 2025
2025 New Light Summer Exhibition, (selected by George Vasey), Sunny Bank Mills
2024 Beep Painting Prize (Longlist), Swansea
2021 Baltic Open, The Baltic, Gateshead
2020 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition (selected by Mervyn Metcalf)
2020 MORE T'NORTH, The Harris, Preston
2018 The KPP Prize for Art, Architecture + Design: Forms Assembled in the Light, Leeds (Prize winner- Runner up)
2017 Dialogus, Vane, Newcastle
2017 Small World, PS Mirabel, Manchester (Highly Commended)
2016 Long listed for Contemporary British Painting Prize
2014 & 2015 Wells Art Contemporary 2015, Wells Museum, Wells, Somerset
2014 From Here and There: Drawings from the UK, Elysium, Swansea
2010 Salon Art Prize, Matt Roberts Project Space, Vyner St, London
EDUCATION
2019 MA in Fine Art (Distinction), MIMA School of Art
2009 BA (Hons) in Fine Art, Teesside University
1994 HND in Design, Berkshire College of Art & Design
1992 Diploma in Art & Design, Cleveland College of Art & Design
COMMISSIONS
2025 Production of an Edition of 10 Screen Prints London Transport Museum, commissioned by Durham University & Platform A Gallery
2024 Site specific work - Public, Middlesbrough Moquette, Middlesbrough Train Station. Commissioned by Middlesbrough Council
2022 Site specific work - Public, South Bank Station, Oil on metal bridge, 150 x 154cm, The Secret Gallery and Black Path Project. Commissioned by The Saabat Gallery, supported by Groundswork NE and funded by River Tees Rediscovered
2022 Site specific work – Gallery, The Masham Commission, Vinyl emulsion on wall, 4 x 3m, The Masham, Middlesbrough. Commissioned by Navigator North
2021 Site specific work - Gallery, Pink Walkway, Vinyl emulsion on wall, 9 x 4.75m, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA)
2021 Design of 2 Doodle Sheets for MIMA's Atrium, commissioned by MIMA
2021/22 Site specific work - Public, Middlesbrough Public Art Commissions, Middlesbrough. Car Park Stairway located on the Cleveland Centre, Digital print on aluminium, 3 x 4m and Broadcasting House Reimagined located on the Brentnall Business Centre, Digital print on aluminium, 2 x 2.5m. Commissioned by Middlesbrough Council & Navigator North
2019 Site Specific Work - Gallery, Yellow Parallels, Vinyl emulsion on wall, 11 x 3.7m, The Auxiliary
2016 Site Specific Work - Gallery, Register Office (Still Standing), Acrylic on wall, Dimensions variable, Platform A Gallery
2018 Artists Live Here, Artists Work Here, Middlesbrough Town Hall Flagpoles
2014 Site Specific Work- Public, Speaker, Acrylic and vinyl on wall, Dimensions variable, Brentnall Business Centre, 65 Gilkes Street, Middlesbrough
AWARDS
2025 Art Network North East Bursary Award
2025 Shortlisted for Tees Valley Artist of the Year
2023/24 Art Network North East Bursary Award
2023 a-n Artists Bursary Award
2020 Tees Valley Response Collecting Scheme – 2 paintings acquired for MIMA'S Middlesbrough Collection
2019 Creative Factory Production Grant Award (Creative Factory is Middlesbrough Council's Great Places Tees Valley Project)
2015 MIMA Artist’s Bursary
2014 MIMA Visual Arts Bursary
2014 Platform A Gallery Mentoring Program (mentored by Lothar Goetz)
RESIDENCIES
2024 Artist in Residence, Full Circle Program at VARC in Northumberland
2023 Artist in Residence with The Auxiliary Group at VARC in Northumberland
2016-17 Artist in Residence (AA2A project) at Teesside University
2014-15 Artist in Residence (AA2A project) at Teesside University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 DOWN TOWN, The Masham, Middlesbrough
2021 Above Ground, Gallagher and Turner, Newcastle
2018 High Rise, The Calver Gallery, South Square Centre
2016/17 Altered Space, Platform A Gallery
2015 Emma Bennett, The Tunnel Gallery, Middlesbrough
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
2026 Simulcast 3, Redcar Contemporary
2025 Printed Response, Platform A Gallery
2025 The Secret Lives of Bottle of Notes, MIMA
2024 Legacy, Platform A Gallery
2024 Working Lives, MIMA
2024 MUNICIPAL, 50 MV, Liverpool
2022/24 The Story of the Middlesbrough Collection, MIMA
2023 From the Urban to the Rural, Middlesbrough Art Week
2022 A Generous Space 2, The New Gallery Walsall
2021/22 Ten Years, Platform A Gallery
2021 Sonia Boyce: In the Castle of My Skin (Led and co-curated by Sonia Boyce), Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA)
2021 BRUTAL, Saul Hay Gallery, Manchester
2020 DANCE FIRST THINK LATER, General Practice, Lincoln
2020 Traces of Reality, PS Mirabel, Manchester
2019 LEGACY - 50 years of painting in the Tees Valley, The Auxiliary
2019 MAJOR CONVERSATIONS: The Industrial Narrative, The Turnpike, Leigh
2019 MATERIALS, Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough Art Weekender
2019 MA Fine Art Degree Show, MIMA School of Art
2019 Marked Transitions, The Auxiliary
2018 Manchester Contemporary showing with Platform A Gallery
2017 Magical Geometry, Chapel Gallery, Lancashire
2015 SELFHOODS, The Constantine Gallery, Middlesbrough
2015 Beyond Repetition, The Bowery Gallery, Leeds
2015 GROUNDED, Platform A Gallery
2009 Fine Art Degree Show, Teesside University
PRIZES & OPEN SUBMISSION
2026 Memento Amoris, Lido Stores, Margate
2026 OPO open 2026, Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough
2025 Auto Amor Project, Vol. 1 & 2, London
2025 Longlisted for John Moores Painting Prize 2025
2025 New Light Summer Exhibition, (selected by George Vasey), Sunny Bank Mills
2024 Beep Painting Prize (Longlist), Swansea
2021 Baltic Open, The Baltic, Gateshead
2020 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition (selected by Mervyn Metcalf)
2020 MORE T'NORTH, The Harris, Preston
2018 The KPP Prize for Art, Architecture + Design: Forms Assembled in the Light, Leeds (Prize winner- Runner up)
2017 Dialogus, Vane, Newcastle
2017 Small World, PS Mirabel, Manchester (Highly Commended)
2016 Long listed for Contemporary British Painting Prize
2014 & 2015 Wells Art Contemporary 2015, Wells Museum, Wells, Somerset
2014 From Here and There: Drawings from the UK, Elysium, Swansea
2010 Salon Art Prize, Matt Roberts Project Space, Vyner St, London