My current sculpted pieces follow on from my painted work adopting symbolic portrayals of the heavenly realm and classical mythology, which in the Renaissance became formalised into representational imagery. These symbols have retained their hypnotic power beyond modernism, although the significance of paintings and relics has changed in the transition from cult to exhibition value discussed by Walter Benjamin. 

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The Numinous series, 2011 – 2025 evolved as I researched the hauntology phenomenon, particularly as discussed by Mark Fisher and Simon Reynolds. 

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This work alludes to art practices of the past, but a stronger temporal disjunction links to the way paintings were exhibited, canonised and exchanged throughout the 20th Century. Influenced by Robert Hugues’ discussions on how art objects became commodities to be possessed rather than exhibited, I aim to embody a sense of fiction, mystery and history in my work; using painting as a way to harness spiritual imagery. The compositions are realised through an unlocking of creative flow reframed as a transformative religious experience; so although materialist interpretations of my work are welcome, some recognise a deep link to the neurological reality composed by the human consciousness linking art to magic. 

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Each Numinous painting was made specifically to fit a lost or discarded frame. I have been collecting these for many years and each piece is rendered in acrylic on plywood cut specifically to fill these carefully designated borders. The frames are therefore of equal significance to the rest of the artwork. Sometimes they appear incongruous and other times there’s a more recognisable relationship, but they always intensify the dynamic arrangement of colour and imagery while acting as a containing structure.

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You Must Change Your Life confronts an inner world channelled through an absent collective culture. By working on a life size crucifixion sculpture in my own home then installing it at PRSC then outdoors at Turbo Island in Bristol, this kitschtified reproduction of pre bourgeois art practices became an object in the world. Inspired by the enlightenment ideals presented in the poem You Must Change Your Life by Rainer Maria Rilke. The piece demonstrates how the audience is tasked to engage with art to understand it, and that task is heightened when experiencing an incomplete sculpture with obscure origins. I watched many people photograph the object, outside of an institution but boldly attached to this well-loved inbetween space. Installed here, the chance that someone  might stumble upon my original inspiration to channel what I had felt while seeing 20th century crucifixes in European cathedrals would be miniscule. The subjectivity is now embedded in the object in a way that has its own life. Viewers bring their own interpretations, the meaning exceeds the creator.