For my latest piece, Rebels and Risk Takers, that spark arrived in a photograph sent to me showing a group of young people gathered on a rooftop near my studio. It was a fleeting moment captured, out of concern, but it stayed with me. I wasn't entirely sure where it would lead, but as I began to work, the narrative started to untangle itself onto the surface.
The setting is an abstracted view of a landmark building just across the road from where I work. It’s an old 1960s department store—a structure that stood empty and decaying for years. While it’s currently used as storage, it still carries that weathered, ghost-like look of urban dereliction. There’s a quiet tension in places like this: structures built with grand intention, left to fade, and then reclaimed by the energy of youth.
Although much of my work is rooted in textiles and texture,, this piece pushed me down a slightly different path, layering painting, drawing, and mixed media. I started with a foundation of Liquitex acrylic inks and used charcoal tracing from photography to ground the architectural scale and structural details of the building. From there, I built up heavy, deliberate layers of acrylic paint—Payne’s gray, deep violets, and subtle greens—to capture the weight and shadow of decaying concrete.
Work in Progress
To contrast that heavy, urban dark, I introduced flashes of vibrant, unexpected color: rich coppers and iridescent inks surrounding the figures on the roof. Where the old 'St. Bernard's' neon sign once sat on the building’s facade, I added the title Rebels and Risk Takers in a subtle, luminous glow—a nod to the energy, vulnerability, and defiance of youth standing against the dark.
This piece was created for our upcoming Darkness exhibition. While a derelict building might not feel like a traditional subject for a winter show, it speaks directly to the interplay between light and shadow—how light isn't just something we observe, but something created by human presence, energy, and resilience.
Rebels and Risk Takers (acrylic, charcoal, and iridescent inks on paper, 56 × 77 cm) will be on display as part of the Darkness exhibition.