About

My story begins in Denmark in a small Scandinavian village near the sea. I was one of 5 siblings, all of us very creative and highly sensitive. Growing up, the house was full of life, mess and noise. And later in life I discovered quite an array of undiagnosed neurodiversity as well. As a young child in this noisy, chaotic house I often found myself as an observer of the emotional dynamics going on around me. I developed a fascination for people. I was always trying to figure out what was going on beneath the surface. When I discovered drawing, I found a secret world of calm. As soon as that pencil started moving across the paper, a hush would fall on my busy, overwhelmed mind. I enjoyed a sense of clarity that only seemed to visit when sat quietly moving a pencil across the paper. I would have a sense of becoming an objective, observing eye and it somehow felt like meditation. I loved spending time in this hemisphere. And there was a wonderful noise cancellation that took place when I did. My struggle with my own neurodiversity, meant emotions had a strong effect, and I needed tools to handle them. I found myself learning a lot as an observer of emotions. I found naming emotions, social dynamics and behaviour patterns cathartic. It was helping me to resist the overwhelm that was otherwise inevitable. This fascination for people and drawing began to merge more and more. I was always drawn to the human figure, and portraiture. When I finally allowed myself to pursue expressive drawing it immediately started speaking to these observations I had spent so long contemplating. I would often find the figures would express whatever emotional landscape I was going through. Growing up in a neurodiverse household was challenging but hugely helped by the fact that my mother was someone who allowed our emotions to find expression. Something that I later learned is rare to find. So maybe I can encapsulate the meaning behind my work with this simple sentence: Emotions are allowed.

In 2003 I moved to London, where I graduated from University of the Arts London, with a BA (Hons) in sculpture, 2008.