defiantsquid | Artist at Mondoir

I have been a visual artist and animator since I was a small child - always drawing, experimenting with cameras, and creating stories. Discovering creative tools like MS Paint at a young age began my fascination with technology and digital expression. Throughout college and university I focused on gaining skills in illustration, figure drawing, graphic design, photography, and sculpture - allowing the various processes of each to reveal final pieces to me. Here I built the foundations of my current practice: research-based project work with defined processes and timelines, giving me the freedom to intentionally disregard an end goal or result. I was fortunate enough to have had mentors who nurtured my interest in journey over destination, and encouraged a certain level of irreverence in my studies and sketchbooks. In 2016 I opened my own animation studio and quickly acknowledged that clients and budgets could not stop me experimenting in my own practice. The best way for me to keep producing art for the joy of it was a 'meditative' painting process, drawing from childhood experiences within a flow state. This approach, combined with a little art history knowledge and a pixel art aesthetic, led me to create pieces that were simultaneously inspired by Mondrian, Klee, et al. and video games from the 80s and 90s. The series was a watershed moment for me and helped to inform my painted pixel style over the next decade.