This series of drawings is inspired by my love of ornament, as seen mainly in Middle Eastern carpets and also in objects from antiquity (as detailed in Owen Jones' "The Grammar of Ornament").
Looking at carpets and ancient objects, I respond to: the rich variety of form; the neurotic detail within repetitive patterning; the sensual, linear quality to nature-based imagery; and most
importantly, the potential of all these elements to be transformed into something else.
After sketching and modifying these motifs, I place them in a three-dimensional pictorial space where they become free-floating, interwoven sculptural elements. Filtered through my contemporary mindset,
I try to bring out the protean nature of the motifs, their ability to work on different levels as monuments, architecture, science-fiction creatures,
circuitry or machinery components; overall, I prize their ability to suggest new narratives. At the same time, I try to maintain a hint of the process of weaving, through a visual vocabulary
of threads and hooks and a color scheme reminiscent of carpets.
Much as carpets were used as symbolic vehicles, marking the weaver's and owner's set of beliefs and position in the world, these drawings to me symbolize a meeting of East and West, ancient
and contemporary, that marks my time and place in the world.
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