I am inspired by the members of my family who were successful artists. I have also been inspired in my art by the traditional and contemporary Maori art, culture and traditions that surrounded me growing up in Rotorua.

This rich and amazing culture led me to look further back into my own heritage and culture to find out what I could about the art designs, techniques, stories and traditions that make up my own cultural knowledge and understandings. I found that a lot of the images that surrounded me were echoed in the cultures that make up my own whakapapa/genealogy (I can trace back to Celtic, Jewish, Caucasus and Eastern European in my ancestry.) The similarities, and the small differences, have added a unique flavour and feel to my own art.

The amazing illustrators, who’s work I devoured at every opportunity, have also had a huge influence on me. Most of my art tells stories of one kind or another and a lot of my work is very illustratory or design based. My work is also informed by my love of storytelling and mythology and the way that they are embedded in the natural world of New Zealand and beyond. I explore this through printmaking, painting, fibre and carving.