When I started experimenting with text in my art, it was mainly for visual appeal. I was studying towards a Visual Arts degree, and exploring the theories of evolution and creation. Text seemed to be an appropriate medium of expression. I really liked the result, and started using text more and more.
Lichen fascinated me - the beauty and variety of the little organisms. I tried painting and drawing them, but somehow I could never really capture the complexity. Then I tried interpreting the lichen in text, and loved the result. Somehow the abstraction and scale
Recently I discovered that lichen is considered to be a primitive life form, consisting of a fungi and a bacteria. Suddenly I was back to the evolution/ creation debate, and it all came together.
In December 2014 we travelled to Namibia. The lichen in the Messum Crater was unlike anything I had seen before. The shapes and vivid colours against the volcanic rock were simply mesmerising.
