Commissioned by Aberdeen City Council as a memorial to the Hazlehead crematorium scandal, which saw the ashes of more than 200 infants lost due to past practices at the crematorium.
Taking inspiration from the idea of a cocoon; a safe and peaceful space for refection and introspection, this sculpture is in the shape of a flock of bronze birds coming together to create a new whole. It was developed over several months in close dialogue with the affected parents, who wanted a peaceful and positive memorial, which would provide a safe space for reflection and remembrance.
The internal seat is a secluded space to sit and remember, the shape drawing the gaze upwards, following the flight of the birds. Being seated inside the sculpture gives the illusion of a protective swarm carrying you elsewhere; taking you somewhere new for a little while, resulting in a memorial that is at once a centre-point for grief and remembrance and a safe and peaceful space for reflection.
The birds symbolise the coming together of many in joint experiences and the strength of the support of others. It could be seen as a reference to little souls taking flight or the many parents coming together. Being a complex and reflective piece, the sculpture offers something new at every visit as it changes with the seasons and new details are discovered. It is angled such that the seat faces the rising sun and changing light will play a large part in the immersive experience of the artwork, as the sun casts the shadow of the birds down of the seated person, occasionally making the immersion into the cocoon seem complete.
Collaboration with artist Sarah Dale. Lapis lazuli, blue agate, natural lava, mookite, stainless steel wire and sheet, wood. 2018.
Lapis lazuli, blue agate, natural lava, mookite, stainless steel wire and sheet, wood.
Reception area centre-piece commission by University of Edinburgh for their new Higgs Centre for Innovation at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh.
The concept for this project was based around the hypothesis; what would happen if the Higgs field was switched off? The Higgs mechanism is responsible for elementary particle masses, which is what provides resistance when a force is applied. If the Higgs field was removed, the electrons in an atom would fly off at the speed of light, leaving the nucleus unaffected. An impossible object, this sculpture is at once present and absent.
The work consists of roughly 16,000 gemstone spheres attached to wires running floor to ceiling. The beads, which make up the image of a door, are installed at a research facility processing big data and only come into alignment as the viewer walks towards it upon leaving the building (enlightened?). At all other angles it will appear as a ghostly cloud, a mist of nuclei drifting in the air, the fundamental part of its mass and energy removed. The door is an elusive object that leads to the unknown possibilities of future scientific endeavour; how will the discovery of the Higgs boson shape the future of science, now the door has closed upon the standard model?
Part of the project development was undertaken at CERN in Geneva in conversation with physicists who worked on the discovery of the Higgs boson at the ATLAS experiment, within the Large Hadron Collider.
An element of the work forms part of the Crawford Library collection.
This innocent looking project took over not only a huge chunk of the lives of my project partner Sarah Dale and myself, but a wast amount of volunteer time and was a reminder that a lot of the time, art is a collaborative effort.
From advice on the science behind the project (and a guided tour around CERN) to writing a bespoke computer program producing the exact bead coordinates to engineering advice, woodwork and general help making the project, the following people gave up their time and expertise for FREE to help us make this. A huge thank you to:
Victoria Martin, Peter Balch, David Montgomery, Brian Sutton, Miles Franklin, Robin Burns, Random Switch, Ken Hare, Liz Hare, Duncan Silander, Natasha Ruwona, Ana Yarza, Alison Brewster, Helen Prior, Felicity White, Morag Donkin, Rhiannon Gray, Anthony Pace Farias, Jo Blackmore, Timothy Betton, Natasha Moody, Jody Mulvey, Rosalin Sanderson, Annabel Stogden, Yashi Harikrishna, Hanna Warne, Lynn Cowan, Robyn Seabright, Sofia Hallstrom, Rachel Abrams, Zivile Siutilaite, Joe Etchel and Michael Merillo
In 2009, whilst studying for my BA, I undertook a 3-month residency organised through Dar es Salaam University, working closely with the community in a rural village in Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. Working with only locally available materials and equipment, the project was the culmination of talks addressing issues of cultural understanding of art, globalisation and local economies. Much of the work was based on long-standing relationships with the local community developed over a number of years and research into local concerns and histories. The resulting sculpture was based on the banana tree, key to the local survival and economy made up from local coins of low denominations. This type of coins are usually only used for buying single cigarettes (60 Tsh each) or dropping into the alms box at church. Through inflation, the face value of the coins at the time was less than their scrap metal value.
Assembly was done using an electric single phase arc welder, which in itself posed a problem due to fluctuations in electricity.
A huge thanks to Gilbert and Elias for spending their lunch breaks trawling the area for suitable coins.
Sculpture exhibited at the Scottish Sculpture Park at Caol Ruadh Summer 2017.
After a lengthy process of sculpting the original, making a 42-piece mould, casting a porcelain version and re-sculpting it, Defection was finally finished and installed in its new temporary home at the Scottish Sculpture Park at Caol Ruadh, where it was shown as part of their Biannual summer exhibition 2017.
The sculpture is a life-size portrait of my 5-year-old son, seated with his eyes closed and breathing in. Caol Ruadh was a former refuge for young boys with health problems and living in deprived conditions in Glasgow. It was part of the fresh air fortnightly project, which sought to take vulnerable children out of the city and give them respite in a rural setting. He is seated on a tidal 'island', from which the children residing at Caol Ruadh used to jump into the ocean for their morning swim.
The sculpture is made from cast porcelain in order to emphasise the fragility of children and the way we as parents try to shape and hold on to our children as they grow. The porcelain gives the sculpture a sense of purity, whilst referencing the classical marble works of artists such as Bernini. A solitary figure, a little merboy, he was sometimes accessible, sometimes lost and cut off from the world.
The incredibly talented Ditte Solgaard Dunn from First Light Photography came past my studio and managed to capture the magic as I opened the kiln for the first time, taking out the still blood-warm sculpture. She since followed to me to Caol Ruadh, where she documented the installation process.
Collaboration with Svetlana Kondakova. The artwork consists of a life-size bronze cast of an archer on the Esk riverbank and 17 steel arrows installed at different locations around Musselburgh.
Inspired by local history, the archer and arrows represent three important aspects of Musselburgh heritage - the Roman invasion in AD 80, the battle of Pinky Cleugh in 1547 and the Musselburgh Silver Arrow, which dates back to 1603 and is claimed to be the oldest sporting trophy in the world. The bronze figure represents layers of Musselburgh history, forming a conceptual bridge by pointing its invisible bow across the river. The arrows represent the present and future and are engraved with the community's wishes for the future of Musselburgh, which were gathered by conducting several community workshops.
The 17 arrows form a trail, linking the heritage of Musselburgh to the modern day as well as inspiring the future and providing an interactive element of activity for both locals and visitors. The placement of the arrows leads people to places that are important to the town in terms of history, culture and community, allowing participants to experience Musselburgh in a new way, highlighting its assets and reasserting the town's identity.
The project was commissioned by Musselburgh council. The Archer was installed in June 2018 and has been welcomed into the community. He currently has a Facebook following of 800+ members who dress up the sculpture for the seasons. He won the prestigious Musselburgh Conservation Society Design Award 2021 and was recently named by Atlas Obscura as one of the Extraordinary Sights of the World. The arrows were installed in the summer of 2019.
Sculpture commissioned by Edinburgh Napier University to form part of their new Fountainbridge halls of residence development, 2014.
The idea stems from research into the earliest origins of the Fountainbridge area, predating the industrial boom of the 19th century to a time when the area was still on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Between the twelfth and fifteenth century the areas of Tollcross and Fountainbridge were located outside of the City of Edinburgh and were Royal Orchards, where a variety of fruits and vegetables, including apples, cherries and pears, were grown. This tradition carried on in Fountainbridge well into the 18th Century, during which time the area was a large Nursery Garden.
Tree of Knowledge's shape is based on the Great Yew at Broich, a Scottish heritage tree near Kippen, Stirlingshire. It was planted in the twelfth century and has been used as a landmark for centuries. By taking the shape of the yew, the sculpture uses the idea of a tree as a local meeting place, as well as commemorating the origins of the area and the first industries to take place on the land. In order to emphasise the role of the sculpture as a meeting place, the front branch has been lowered, widened and supported, thereby turning it into a bench and a place for reflection.
The sculpture was created by welding together locally sourced metal pipes in a variety of shapes and sizes, each piece shaped individually in order to achieve the organic appearance of a real tree. Holes have been drilled in the pipes and some have been left open in order utilise the Scottish weather and catch the wind, resulting in a sculpture with its own atmospheric soundscape.
Below the tree lies a single apple, bringing to mind the tale of Newton, who was hit by an apple whilst sitting under a tree, causing him to invent the theory of gravity, as well as referencing the origins of the area as orchards. The apple has been cast from bronze and copper and left to weather green, slowly blending in with its environment and matching the green of the new accommodation buildings as well as the copper green of several of Edinburgh's important buildings such as The Usher Hall.
The sculpture was constructed at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and measures 3m x 5.6m x 5.8. The creative team provided opportunities for emerging artists and students to work on the sculpture construction and to gain invaluable experience of working in a professional art environment.
Collaboration with artist Sveltana Kondakova.
Commission for Napier Fountainbridge halls of residence, 2015.
The sculpture commemorates the North British Rubber Company, founded in 1856. It was one of the most important employers in Fountainbridge for generations of local people. During both World Wars the factory made millions of pairs of rubber boots for the British Army, helping to drastically reduce trench foot, a major concern during World War I. Marking the centenary of WWI, the sculpture was erected to commemorate the huge importance of the company, both locally and nationally.
The boot, based on a modern wellington boot, has fallen on its side, revealing a carved print, modelled on the original WWI hobnail boot. Symbolically bridging the past and the present, the sculpture also mirrors the way the factory left its mark on the local and national landscape. In order to highlight the impact of the industrial boom of the 19th century in the area, the boot is based on WWI military aesthetics and finished with rivets. This also links the sculpture to local industrial structures like the Leamington Lift Bridge, which stands to this day on the Grand Union Canal.
Collaboration with artist Svetlana Kondakova
