While working with the laser, I began to consider the most commonly touched item in most people’s lives – the screen of their mobile phone.
I took a deep breath and stuck my old mobile into the laser and discovered that, not only did the laser etch the glass screen, but the phone continued to work perfectly.
In revisiting the theme of memento mori iconography, I was moved by the number of remembrance items that were designed to be handled, worn and touched. I started to etch skulls onto mobile phones and screen protectors.
This thought, begun during the Fellowship, has grown into a new series of works in which I give screen protectors that have been etched with memento mori imagery to friends and family to use on their phones. They then take photos of them using the mobiles, and I etch these photos onto black glass to create an installation. This version was accepted into the 2017 British Glass Biennale.
