Croak Room
Oil on canvas
76 x 102 x 6cm
 
The painting depicts a White’s tree frog as a reference to my childhood during which my father used to collect and breed frogs. I have painted a section of the frame with a striking matte black enamel paint following the horizon line within the image, giving a feeling of looking through a window or into a vitrine; there is a physical sense of being brought into the scene through its expansion over the frame.
 
One of my earliest memories is of sitting down for dinner and noticing a frog had escaped from its vitrine, it sat in the doorway watching us eat. I remember feeling uneasy about the animal for the first time, experiencing disgust and fear of the confidence of the amphibian; I was made uncomfortable by its suddenly unprotected proximity. It wasn’t until later in life when I had digested this memory that I found it was much more formative to my art practice than I had yet recognised.