Pam lives and works in the West of Scotland, facing the beautiful view up the Firth of Clyde towards Arran and has exhibited her work with galleries in Glasgow, Paisley, Perth and London. Her paintings in paper are created using a multitude of techniques. A wide variety of papers and cards are manipulated by bending, crumpling, curling, tearing and sometimes burning, with acrylics and found materials often included to enhance the overall image. The aim is to build a highly textured 3 dimensional effect while retaining a ‘painterly’ 2 dimensional aspect of the surface. Inspiration is found everywhere from song lyrics and books to landscape, wildlife and portraits. She seeks to introduce an element of mystery to her work while incorporating touches of humour, exploring each subject to find and include extra elements that will deepen the pictorial experience.
She has found that the intricacy of weaving, layering and intertwining the individually shaped paper pieces lends an extra beauty to the subject matter through subtle changes in light and shade that wouldn't be possible in a strictly 2 dimensional representation. Aspects shift according to lighting conditions, with the sculptural effect creating a kind of 2D / 3D cross that almost appears to live and move. Always conscious of the importance of conventional elements like composition and colour, she carefully builds these into the overall image while staying alert to unexpected possibilities that often arise during the long process of arranging the separate pieces.
Her work is always delicate and detailed with most pieces taking many weeks to complete. The overall textural aspect to the work comes from myriad differences in the papers themselves as well as the layering and shaping involved. This is the first thing that's seen before looking more deeply into the intricacies of construction to discover more depth, both physical and metaphorical, as well as partly hidden elements which deepen the viewer's appreciation in contemplation of each work.