1000 CUTS   2024

( on exhibition at the Copeland Gallery, Peckham Rye 17-21st July 2024)

Reclaimed/dead charred wood, paper and pencil, engraved plaques

Eight open coffins with space for a ninth, is a sculptural response to loss and outrage at the ongoing tragic removal of the country’s trees by stealth, poor planning decisions, vandalism and human expansion. Prompted by the recent loss of two huge beloved poplar trees for the sake of a remodel on Cowdray Golf course, ‘1000 cuts’ is an attempt to garner support and love for our ‘standing people’. Inspired by artist Barbara Walkers piece ‘Burden of Proof’, I have used the pencil as the simplest form of remembrance and the act of honouring each featured tree, drawn using thousands of tiny graphite lines is also symbolic of the action of the chainsaw. Trees rarely have any protection, if they do (and some have even won awards) they are still destroyed despite their heritage status. It is sadly anticipated that this body of work will constantly expand and be added to on a yearly basis.

Trees that are featured here are : 2 poplar trees on Cowdray golf course, Sycamore gap, 100 year old palm trees on Torquay seafront, 47 species lost in Armada Way precinct in Plymouth, 17,500 trees felled in Sheffield City Centre, The Cubbington Pear Tree, The Happy Man Plane Tree, Hackney, Colaton Raleigh beech avenue

ETERNAL OASIS    2024

Medium: Burnt yew wood, ply support, oak dowels, wood glue, paint and film

This piece is a combination of sculpture and film that explores a grove of yew trees on a hill in West Sussex. Planted by Augustus ‘Capability’ Brown, the trees are now corralled by golfing turf and farmland. Some have succumbed to the ravages of time but its mini eco system is thriving, where trees lean against each other for support and species are layered. To the human it offers a defined moment of seclusion and protection, so powerful that its almost reverential.  Secretly filmed over two months, a 5 minute montage of curiosity and delight shows this tree world come alive. The darkened yew wood plinths map out the tree heights and positions spanning from the heart of a prone body, lying staring at the sky. Young and dead trees are represented by singular plinths and the Ogham language respectively.  Heralding its power, it is an altar, a bed, a homage to an idea born 350 years ago and a nod to the druids who call this tree sacred.

 

A SELECTION OF WORK IN CLAY DEVELOPED ON SHORT COURSES AT WEST DEAN COLLEGE

 

 

 

 

THE HERD 2018