Works on paper

August 11 2023

If it wasn’t for the ‘ouses in between

If it wasn’t for the ‘ouses inbetween

January 2018 / Loudest Whispers – Peace and Activism, St Pancras Hospital, London NW1
Collaged digital prints

These works all use photo-collage to meddle with the site of my home. It was thrilling to be able to drag my house away from the neighbours and introduce a grove of trees into the space simply by wielding a stanley knife.

The title, If it wasn’t for the ‘ouses in between, refers to a cockney music-hall song about the power of imagination to transcend the limits of physical space:

‘with a ladder and some glasses you could see to Hackney Marshes if it wasn’t for the ‘ouses in between’ – Gus Elen, 1890s.

August 11 2023

Controlled zone – do not wring

Controlled Zone – do not wring

March 2020 / Unseen Labour, The Art Academy, London SE1
Collaged digital prints, MDF

The gable end is the most concealing aspect of a house, rarely having doors or windows. Instead it occupies the ‘hard’ public domain of architecture and street furniture. My collages play with exposing the ‘soft’ hidden domestic interiors and their demands for unseen labour.

August 11 2023

If by fire

If by fire 1 – 4

February 2021 / Wilderness, St Pancras Church Crypt, London NW1
Collaged digital images

Another attempt at subverting the impassive solidity of the gable end, following on from Controlled Zone do not Wring.

This time I’m playing with what the house keeps out, rather than what it hides within. The inscrutable brickwork not only pulls rank on its soft and private interior space; it boasts of keeping us safe from the wild world outside.
The way things are going, that remains to be seen.

August 11 2023

Water table

March 2023 / Hair of the Dog, Four Corners Gallery, East London
Digital images
1,2: Artist’s photographs and text
3: Found image and artist’s text
4: ‘Belmont Workhouse inmates being marched off by the police after rioting over being fed only ‘watery porridge’ 1910’, artist’s text
5: Photograph Regina Mamou, Amman 2010, artist’s text
6: Photograph from Root and Bone magazine, date unknown, artist’s text

I’ve been exploring the way the English language is saturated with references to the non-human world, belying the long held view of humans as distinct from and superior to nature.

In this series of works I’m using text in play with image; viewing the outcomes as both concrete poetry and visual object. Some include found photographs while others use my own images. I’ve produced them in poster form; I’d like to see them fly posted on the street alongside appearing in the gallery.