At the time of making this painting I had a flurry of buzzing anxieties swarming around in my space, an inner critic alarming me of the time I have been allocated to paint, make the most of it! Be creative! Move outside of yourself! Utilise your qualifications! Don’t be too long! With each mark I tried to make friends with these pressures, so that the hands I felt around my creative heart could lessen their grip. Responding to the impending doom with a new colour on the plane, a portal was being made where I could swim around in the impressions made from my fingers. I retreat within only to resurface more centred. With foundations of reassurance from having spent time with my imagination I can return to the rest of my experience with a gleaming lens. The flurry has calmed, and the voices of failure subdued. The pressure can be palpable, both from outside and in. But how grateful I am to be able to attune to my desire, to process the myriad of dishevelling moments and to come out the other side of something whatever that may be. 

Read more about Stevie Berneray.