Loam

My first exhibition was in January 2013. It was a series of images called 'Loam', taken in an abandoned mechanics shop that was joined to the recording facility I had a room in at the time. The building used to be New Zealand’s SIS headquarters. It was built in 1946 and the Security Intelligence Service moved in 1969, and stayed until 1980, which was when the mechanics moved in.

Every week I’d drop in and pay my rent in cash to Frank. It was astonishing filthy and you had to be careful not to brush up against anything, otherwise you would end up daubing and crying over an oil stain on your one good dress. Beneath the layers of grime, were glimpses of Laura Ashley wallpapers and Axminster carpets.