Stone and Metal Based
Earlier works exploring the relationship between industrial materials, familiar domestic objects and the processes used to transform them. Working with stone, concrete, glass and metal, the pieces employ cutting, drilling, casting, welding and assembly to test the possibilities and limitations of their materials. Precision and control frequently give way to irregularity, chance and unexpected associations.
Lidlocked
Found pressed-glass lids, cast concrete
2020
20cm w x 13cm h & 23cm w x 16cm h
Made during lockdown, Lidlocked comprises two solid concrete forms, each incorporating a decorative glass lid partially embedded in its upper surface. Cast in everyday studio mixing buckets, the concrete permanently encases the lids, rendering their original function redundant.
The patterned glass, once an affordable domestic alternative to cut crystal, contrasts with the weight and plainness of the concrete. Their domed surfaces and protruding knobs introduce an unexpectedly bodily quality to the otherwise utilitarian forms.
The title refers both to the physical entrapment of the objects and the restricted circumstances of their making.
Meccano for Girls
Stainless steel strut channel, powder coated bespoke brackets and plates, fastenings, 2020
Various size/configurations
Meccano for Girls was inspired by a vintage advertisement proclaiming ‘Meccano – Engineering for Boys’, Meccano for Girls reimagines the familiar construction toy at an outdoor scale.
Using industrial stainless steel channel struts and bespoke powder-coated pink brackets and plates, the work translates the toy’s distinctive system of perforated components, bolts and bracing into a series of self-supporting towers.
Originally installed amongst garden planting, the structures bring the functional language of industrial engineering into a floral setting. Conceived as a modular, reconfigurable sculpture, the work allows for new arrangements and configurations in different spaces and contexts.
Cairns
Sea-worn tarmac, concrete and bricks, letter trays, metal, perspex and painted steel, 2017-18
35 x 26 x 38cm, 38 x 27 x 66cm, 29 x 38 x 102cm
Three Cairns artworks were assembled from sea-worn fragments of tarmac, concrete and brick, stacked within repurposed office letter trays.
The materials originate from eroding coastal structures, where manufactured surfaces and building materials have gradually been broken down and rounded by the sea. Their arrangement within the rigid, repetitive frameworks of filing trays brings together natural processes of erosion with human systems of organisation, construction and display.
Referencing the ancient practice of marking places with stacked stones, the works suggest contemporary monuments to the built environment and its eventual decay.
Two works from the series were selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2022.
Spilt Ilk
Found pressed glass jugs, lime mortar mix, elasticated strips, oak wedges, 2020-21
Soft Rocks
Rounded flint stones with holes, jumpers, socks, coiled wire.
2017-2021
With Spilt Ilk, cast-glass jugs filled with lime mortar are held at pouring angles on the shelves of a 1940s kitchen dresser. The mortar, once fluid, has set solid, preserving the appearance of a suspended pour. Oak wedges and elastic straps support the jugs in their tilted positions, extending the illusion of movement while referencing the dresser’s former domestic function.
For Soft Rocks, rounded flint stones with natural holes are partially enclosed in repurposed knitted jumpers and socks. Metal coils of varying diameters pass through the holes, connecting the stones into a bunched but rearrangeable form. The soft coverings disguise and exaggerate their forms, creating a contrast between the apparent softness of the surfaces and the weight and hardness beneath. The connected stones can be assembled in changing configurations, including freestanding and wall-mounted arrangements.
Hang
Stainless steel door hangers, welded, various dimensions, 2017
Hang is a small series of sculptural assemblages made by welding together multiples of stainless steel over-door hooks. The forms developed through an intuitive process of joining, with each configuration responding to its relationship with horizontal and vertical surfaces.
Originally designed as discreet domestic fittings, the hooks become increasingly unfamiliar as they multiply. The exposed welds and heat discolouration contrast with the uniformity of the manufactured steel, revealing the improvised nature of their construction.
Slide 1 - Hang-Stand
Slide 2 & 3 - Hang-On
Slide 4 & 5 - Hang-Up
Cheese From Chalk
Chalk stone, cheese boards, glass domes, red enamel paint, 2020
Cheese from Chalk is made from chalk stone salvaged during building conservation work, these sculptures exploit the material’s resemblance to various cheeses. Irregular fragments were cut into wedges and blocks, their surfaces alternately smooth, striated or lumpy. A pillar drill was used to excavate circular holes, introducing a mechanically precise geometry into the fragile stone.
The title twists the saying “like cheese and chalk,” used to describe a striking difference between people or things. Arranged on cheese boards beneath glass domes, the pieces play with the distinction between natural formation and manufactured food, imagining how this unlikely selection might be served at a family gathering or party.