Wall Installation 2007-8

Spike Island Studio, Sculpture Shed, Bristol

This wall installation spans my studio wall (25’ long x 10’ high) and is specific to the building and the materials used for construction.  I have cast breeze-blocks out of plaster to create a façade which represents Western culture, contingent with ‘perfection’, symmetry and industrially produced components.  Contrasted with this, is an earth substrate revealed through worn away points over the surface.  This signifies African vernacular architecture, but also alludes to a more mysterious and fertile place. Vulnerability and fragility are also central themes to this work, reflecting the unpredictability of mortality.

The use of wooden spacers and polystyrene wedges also hint at African construction and repair processes, but it is also a characteristic of much of my work, revealing rather than hiding, aspects of the making accentuating a process-based approach to sculptural form.