My inability to express the depth of emotions I’ve felt within my romantic relationship through words has been a source of ongoing frustration. Using metaphorical associations has allowed me to process the ineffable through art, capturing what lies beyond language alone. Research in the fields of science, philosophy, psychology, literature and poetry becomes an investigation through which romantic love is processed, understood, and then communicated visually. Drawing from visual associations inspired by this research, I present emotional and theoretical ideas in material form.

Anatomy of infatuation 

These Petri dishes are imagined biopsies of people experiencing infatuation. Inspired by the anthropological research of Helen Fisher, they represent the chemical changes that occur in the brain when one falls in love. Each work is accompanied by a donated love story, connecting the biological and emotional dimensions of romantic attachment.

Lost self found, familiar feeling

These clusters of nebulous forms were inspired by a poem I wrote for my partner. I was interested in the way metaphor can shape the interpretation of feelings in poetry, acting as a bridge between the emotional and the literal.

I took the metaphor of a nebula further, relating the birthplace of a star to the formation of love ideals within relationships. Fragments of my parents, siblings, and other caregivers surround the eye of my love. Inspired by the theories of Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt, the work reflects the idea that our patterns of attachment are shaped by the love we experienced in childhood. We search for what is familiar—for better or worse.

Your smile is like an arctic sunrise

Exploring the literary devices of metaphor and simile, I wrote a line reflecting on the feelings of adoration I experienced at the sight of my partner's smile. By invoking the natural phenomenon of an Arctic sunrise, I compare his smile to the experience of emerging into light after a prolonged period of darkness, suggesting hope, renewal, and emotional transformation.

Domestic core sample

Domestic Core Sample mimics the form of a soil sample, standing as a record of a slowly adjusting blended family unit. Laundry lint becomes a family portrait, the varied chromatic grey layers telling the story of each individual and the events that transpired over an entire year. Tissue detritus recalls the time my partner developed COVID just days after we found out we were pregnant, grass seeds give away the strange choice of housing pet rabbits in the middle of our lounge room, and the intermittent pink layers bring on melancholy over the stark reality of sharing care of my two older children, missing them every other week.

Echoes of a lovers touch

With the cool compress of domesticity, the fever of infatuation wanes. This pastel painting series reflects on the transition from the intensity of new love to the rhythms of a lived-in relationship. The figure recalls the feeling, using hands, tongue, and feet to trace the lingering echoes of a lover's touch.