Murphy's interest lies in the realm of the home - in images of inhabitation and the colonisation of space. Everywhere there are Palaces refers to this along with the influence of the depictions of 'home'. The artist employs techniques that allow for textured results, evoking memories and familiarity in the viewer that goes beyond the visual and into the haptic. These paintings are varied in their investigations; some manifest as instinctive responses to the nostalgia associated with home through texture, form and symbolism. Others have come through a more conceptual process of reflection on the construction and dissemination of aspirational ideals of 'home'. Murphy moves from the idea of intimate home into varied and fantastical presentations of 'a home' - royal palaces, the interiors depicted in children's stories and dolls houses. This fictional representation of home is often introduced to the child within their own home, creating a sense of friction between the real and the imagined.
