My work has always been heavily influenced by the strength and integrity of the prehistoric cave paintings of Lascaux. At college it was purely the image of the horse that fascinated me, the ironically wild carrousel horses, bobbing hopelessly, as a metaphor for the human condition. From there I immersed myself in 'The Horse' as it has been represented in art and literature throughout history. Few subjects have had such strong symbolic significance to man, and few images, other than the nude, have been so frequently observed in art. I studied artists such as George Stubbs, Eugene Delacroix, Degas, Marc Chagall, Franz Marc, and Marino Marini as well as the portrayal of the horse in the ancient civilisations of Greece, Rome and most importantly for me, ancient China and Japan. The colours and dress of modern race horses were a great spur for me too, as I lived in the grounds of a race course, where I was surrounded by the most refined evolution of the creature. Alongside this was my development of an idea and feeling of 'Woman'. Simple, sensual curves and inflated weightlessness were very much a feature of the horses I made – the manifestation of this second underlying preoccupation with the essence of female form and presence. These ideas and feelings then developed and culminated in the marriage of horse and woman. Living in Hong Kong at the time, the influence of the ancient Chinese and Japanese artifacts, the wood block prints and pillow books, were part of my everyday life. The simplicity of this work, typified what I was trying to communicate. Buddhism and Taoism have influenced my life ever since, their symbolism and teachings inspiring my work. The woman and the horse remain a perfect vehicle for me to communicate the different facets of humanity, our relation to the world, emotions and ourselves. Femaleness (what I believe it means to be a woman), spirituality, consciousness, sensuality and inner strength continues to fascinate me, giving me ever growing and changing insights. In that respect, I have always avoided laboured titles, preferring people to see my work un-hindered by my personal 'philosophy'. Amedeo Modigliani, Alberto Giaccometti, Odilon Redon, Aubery Beardsley, George Groez, Andre Derain, Honore Daumier, Frank Dobson, Otto Dix, Howard Hodgkin, Mary Cassatt, Marcel Antoine Gimond, Wilem de Kooning, Aristide Maillol, Tamara de Lempicka, Picasso, DaVinci whom I admire, also influenced my work. The inventor, designer and architect, Buckminster Fuller, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, philosophers Krishna Murti, Thomas Moore, Erich Fromm are my modern heroes. I love too many films of the 30s and 40s to mention... The books of Armistead Maupin, the Don Camillo stories, Herman Hesse's 'Siddartha', Alice Walker's 'The Temple of my Famillier', John Irving's 'A Prayer for Owen Meaney' and Shauffer's 'Equus'. Photographs above by Sissle Honore
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