The Toilet series is an ongoing body of work that began in 2019 with the painting Throne, an homage to Duchamp’s iconic 1917 readymade, Fountain. My first encounter with Duchamp in 2015, during high school, sparked a fascination with his playful yet profound subversion of art’s traditional boundaries. The tongue-in-cheek nature of the readymade—an everyday object elevated to the status of art—resonated with me, particularly as a response to the horrors of the First World War. However, it was Duchamp’s exploration of de-authorship that I found most compelling: the shift in focus from the artist's intention to the audience's interpretation. In other words, the meaning of an artwork ultimately lies in the hands of the viewer. This idea, which paved the way for postmodern thought, became a cornerstone of my own practice. The irreverence of the store-bought urinal, presented as art, perfectly encapsulated this radical shift in perspective. The process behind the Toilet series begins with a simple documentative photograph taken on my phone. I then use these images as loose guides for my drawings and paintings, allowing myself the freedom to play with form, atmosphere, and gesture. Rather than focusing on intricate detail, I prioritise character and emotional resonance, exploring the relationships between shapes and spaces, as well as the formal qualities of colour. In this way, I find my work straddles the line between abstraction and representation. Painting, for me, is an incredibly freeing process—a meditative practice that allows for both introspection and experimentation. Over the last 10 years, I have come to embrace this process as a vital aspect of my artistic journey, continuously evolving and finding new ways to express my thoughts on art, culture, and the world around me.
The Last Cubicle
300 x 300mm
Acrylic on canvas
$150
Throne
1160 x 1160mm
Acrylic on canvas
$750
Engaged
230 x 170mm (framed)
Print of drawing
$30