Titled after the documentary film of the same name, the principle painting in this collection appears benign, even joyful yet posits an unfolding ecological disaster with potentially far-reaching consequences. Not least of which is the loss of additional creatures such as zebras and impalas, dependant for their survival on the habitat-clearing work of elephants who are known as “The Gardeners of Eden”.

A collection which spotlights the intrinsic connection between all living things on the planet. This equitability of importance between all living organisms is underscored by challenging the usual hierarchy of foreground and background and giving equal significance in the compositions between figures, flora and fauna. The works are both allegorical and literal and simultaneously present a utopian and dystopian viewpoint. Self-portraits appear as ‘protector of the animals’ and environment, making up the majority of the canvas, but certain repeating themes are signifiers that in an otherwise halcyon landscape, all is not quite as it seems. The butterfly represents chaos theory and the idea that initial small changes may ultimately have profound effects, such as the extensive impact of climate change. Paint skins with printed text and photographic imagery showing graphic scenes of poaching are camouflaged into some paintings. The photographic images are difficult to pick out at first sight, but once noticed are hard to forget and have a multi-layered tactile aesthetic, presenting a surface optimism with a depth that concurrently speaks to much darker issues. Panels show camera phones detailing the impact of threats facing the natural world indicating indifference and detachment when viewed through a lens. These references to topical culture place the work directly in the present tense, yet the jungle paintings are simultaneously Rousseau inspired, reaching backwards into art history.

A collection of paintings highlighting the unnatural pressures inflicted on the natural world by humanity. Bringing together many elements of Holocene Twilight and True Value, the monochromatic panels highlight potential irreversible loss, and the crystal mosaic cross on the faces of the principal animals, at once highlights a sense of preciousness and jeopardy.

A collection influenced by historical paintings and sculpture in a convergence of classical, modern and contemporary imagery. Taking strong female figures in mythology as a starting point and considering the animal world and contemporary fashion as a means of expression and identity, the compositions reflect and set the mood for the couture in the manner of a surrealist film set. The female subjects are a combination of statuary and world citizen, free of racially defining features. They simultaneously look to the past and present in referencing contemporary gender equality issues. Some of the works are influenced by the paintings of Gaugin and Rousseau but focus on the ‘female gaze’. The women who populate these paintings confront the viewer, challenging the subjectivity of the depictions of women in art history. The ocean painting in this collection is entitled The Physical Impossibility Of Captivity In The Mind Of Someone Free (2017), it features Andromeda breaking free from her chains juxtaposed with the electrical symbol of resistance. Both the encapsulated shark and the title make reference to Damien Hirst’s work, but the play on the title is also co-opted to allude to the crisis of worldwide migration and conflict. All of the compositional elements are underwater suggesting a climate change apocalypse in a world of opposites represented by water and electricity.

A collection of monochromatic paintings which develop the theme of, and contrast with the previous crystal mosaic collection entitled True Value. Grisaille oil paintings represent fading memories and loss. Endangered species within urban settings become metaphors for displacement. The works highlight the inconvenient truth that through apathy, financial and political vested interests, world leaders seem unwilling to deal with the most difficult issues that face us. The monochromatic images recall black and white tv, old photographs and memories of things long gone. A selection of the works reference Guernica, thus representing a clarion call for war against poaching, climate change and habitat degradation. A reimagined version of Pietro Longhi’s Exhibition of a Rhinoceros at Venice is the first of this suite of paintings. In the second painting, the Lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of Venice, has turned on its axis to face away from the city in the same direction as the displaced lion viewed by stupefied onlookers. The Unknown commissioned by British actress and activist Virginia McKenna and sold to British actress and activist Joanna Lumley, is an allegorical painting which flips socio-political power disparities. It focuses on the little five, as opposed to the usual 'Big Five' who are now concealed in the Rousseau inspired background.

A collection of large-scale paintings which feature crystal mosaics depicting keystone species. Isolated in the picture plane, the creatures are elevated to the importance of human portraits, displaying an irreplaceability and an entwined destiny. Precious crystal mosaics are undercut by semi-abstract painted backgrounds and graffiti drawing attention to multiple threats in the ‘dead’ language of Latin that few understand. Creatures created from thousands of individual elements appear as abstract images on close scrutiny, and on viewing from a distance they represent the last of their species as the big picture emerges into focus. These distinctions of detailed decoration and minimalism are utilized as a metaphor for abundance and extinction. The handprints reference the birth of art in the earliest cave and rock paintings and the hand of man as a huge force for both good and ill.

A collection influenced by historical portraiture, popular throughout human history, created with a contemporary twist in the crystal mosaic portraits which form a major part of this collection. Mosaic is an ancient art which has a rich history dating back to the third century BC. From the Greeks, Romans and Byzantine mosaics, to the Art Nouveau movement, it is now enjoying a welcome renaissance in the 21st Century. The crystal mosaic portraits partially reflect the viewer, making observer and observed integral to the work, a commentary on the culture of celebrity and the age of the selfie. This allusion is further enhanced by the informality of the close-cropped compositions. The works present an abstract quality, as a series of pointillist dots when viewed up close, which emerge as a coherent image as the viewer steps back. The crystal mosaic portrait commissioned by Rihanna of Marilyn Monroe (5ft x 5ft), was created with 65,000 hand-applied Swarovski Elements. It represents the separate yet entwined identities of public and private personas. The artwork hides a secret painted portrait of Norma Jeane on the reverse, whilst the crystal Marilyn Monroe, her famous alter ego stares out at the world. In the same way, the hidden portrait largely remained unobserved in all of the press coverage which was generated by the commission. The portrait of the Queen was created in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee, with Swarovski Aurora Borealis special effects crystals. From certain angles a diamond effect is presented and from others a definitive red, white and blue appearance as the crystals change colour.

Earlier artwork collections in handmade paper collage, mosaic, and crystal mosaic all represent an organic progression of processes of construction and deconstruction to both thematically and technically demonstrate appearance and disappearance.