‘Not Waving but Drowning’ is a poem by English poet Stevie Smith and was the catalyst for these works. The poem speaks of the isolation and pain of being misunderstood, and is a parable about the distance between inner feelings and outward appearance.

This series of paintings was inspired my long time fascination with water and the underworld beneath the waves, the symbolism of drowning, the process of confronting and understanding complex feelings that lie beneath the surface.

Having suffered a life threatening illness in 2004 and the loss of myself, from which I thankfully survived, I was left with PTS and depression which I kept very much to myself. The Stevie Smith poem resonated with me when I first read it in 2010. By then I had recovered and had found peace, however the poem helped me, in hindsight, to express the emotions I had felt at that dark time.