Ignota Vivere (Unknown life) is a series of crocheted sculptures representing imagined marine organisms. It examines the potential for discovery in our oceans. Currently, scientists know of around 226 000 marine species. However, there are anywhere between a few hundred thousand to a few million more to be discovered. In amalgamating the manufactured with the organic I express the power organisms have to adapt to changes in their environment and even thrive under new conditions. In using the form of a museum exhibit my intent is to display the creatures as rare scientific specimens.

Inspired by perspectives and how they affect the expression of emotions, I used techniques of angles and body language in my body of work to represent the negative spaces between social performance and duty. My work explores themes of feminism, domestic stereotypes and mental illness indirectly by using a private setting, where a person is often left to their own thoughts and prospects of nihilism, self-realisation and physical detachment. My intent was to create an intimate and vulnerable conversation between the work and the viewer.

Our hands connect us to the world around us. We remain curious about the world, we connect with others. We build, create and leave our mark on the world. But our touch also grants us an ability to hurt and destroy: our ability to build and create comes at a cost to the Earth and its inhabitants. Through the expressive posing of hands and detailed drawing in ballpoint pen, I intend to show the permanence of our lives and the impact we have, not only on the physical Earth but also on others.

My body of work examines my personal experience of moving countries. I have had to dismantle, re-shape and build up my life again, making it a jumble of identity, culture and expectations. My work combines aesthetics and conventions to explore how I’ve constructed identity from influences such as memories, people, language or the environment. The birds represent my struggle with these changes; they migrate and travel, yet they grow and are nurtured in a stationary nest. Representing these different houses as travelling machines expresses how my ‘nests’ have had to become mobile in order to meet my changing identity.

My body of work represents the repetitive cycle, impact and abusive culture of greyhound racing. The large scale ‘portrait’ grounds the work in subjectivity, while images and text from online betting apps and phone screens highlight the ease of betting and anonymous participation in animal cruelty. I recontextualised historic photographs and used found objects to represent the deaths and treatment of dogs in this system. This work is dedicated to the thousands of greyhounds that are killed every year, the volunteers who work tirelessly to save them and the greyhounds that are hopefully awaiting their families and homes.

My body of work, A Portrait in Frequency, explores humanity’s existence in space and time against an ever-expanding digital world. The video installation loop builds on visual and sound techniques to represent a young girl who amplifies, disassembles, fragments and rebuilds back to her natural self. My intent is for the viewer to feel, see and hear the intense vibrations of her metamorphosis. The photographic series merges video and photographic techniques, expressing a digital evocation of the psyche and the body’s physicality, unlocking frequencies of the human condition.

My body of work takes a humorous approach to the serious and devastating impact of single-use plastics in our consumerist society. Referencing the work of Warhol, the vibrant screen prints allude to the mass-production of plastics. They contrast with the cluttered black and white accumulation of items that lies beneath to draw attention to the significant contribution made to global waste by these seemingly innocent objects. By incorporating facts about the effects of plastic pollution on their packaging, my intent is to stimulate conversation about these everyday items that end up in our oceans and landfill for hundreds of years.

Deuteranopia: red-green colourblindness. My greens are red and blues are orange, according to the tests at least. I thought being colourblind was my weakness, but perhaps it’s playing a role in a society that will not open its eyes, not willing to see the destruction of our environment through the continued use of fossil fuels. I used train moulds, oil paint, rust patina and recycled bike wheels in my body of work to represent my memories, all tainted now. A warm house in winter: more carbon in our atmosphere. My favourite soft toy: filled with plastic that never breaks down.

My body of work explores my personal ideas about connection and relationships, expressing my own associations with connection and loneliness in relation to my mental health and grief. It represents the variety of emotions we can have about the links with those around us, but is ambiguous about whether they have negative or positive connotations. My use of negative space is intended to produce a feeling of absence, in contrast to feelings of connection. This work is almost like a puzzle, where I am inviting the audience to sit and ponder it and its missing pieces.

The Metastases Journey of Uncle Jim represents the vulnerability, mortality, chemical and physical transformation of the human body as it experiences and battles the corrosive nature of cancer. The disfiguring and scarring of the human body are given expression through the stooping form, an assemblage of rusted and corroded repurposed metal, weathered wood and personal objects. My intent in including these personal items – the walking stick, weathered boots and hanging crucifix – was to invite the audience to consider the personal relationship between faith and suffering, and the courageous battle of loved ones who have a cancer diagnosis.

Missed calls tend to be received as urgent messages needing a response. However, due to your unavailability, the caller isn’t given the satisfaction of a response. Both sides are affected, experiencing a range of emotions such as guilt, despair, anger, humour and happiness. My intent with the audio message on each telephone was to create a common and relatable scenario, giving the audience the chance to interact and interpret, attaching their own understanding to each aspect of life expressed in the corresponding canvas. This experience is made more interactive as the audience views their reaction to each missed call.