This piece was developed following my series for “Feast”, an exhibition at Stevens Street Gallery in Yandina at the end of 2025. I have worked from an aerial perspective intermittently for many years, an approach to still life I was introduced to by my tutor, Jackie Shelton at university. I have explored this perspective in my Simple Gifts series, creating work using this style since the late 1980s.
Using an aerial view allows for a unique design aesthetic, offering a fresh way to observe familiar objects. I’ve always loved pineapples. I first used them in my work back at art college — they were the most exotic thing I could find in the northeast of England in 1985. I vividly remember seeing them growing for the first time in St. Lucia and being utterly fascinated. Now, we can drive past a pineapple farm near Dayboro, and I even grow my own at home, albeit very slowly, from pineapple tops in our garden.