After my last post I realised I should probably give some background about my work, to provide context for my current project. I’ve been a practicing artist since 2008, when I took part in my first exhibition in Southampton. The show was archaeologically-themed, and in response I created a series of contemporary ‘Greek vases’ in the form of hand-painted cardboard boxes. I wanted to make a connection between the stories illustrated on Greek amphorae (which reveal the myths, current events and social beliefs of the ancient Greeks) and the similarly revealing surfaces of contemporary packaging. Using black and red paints, I decorated discarded cardboard boxes with visual ‘artefacts’ from the present and past, creating intricate surfaces that merged modern news events with pop culture, art history, and ancient cultures. The goal was to create something that reflects our current Information Age with its eclectic fusion of data from across time and space.
I produced several more pieces in this style, using found cardboard boxes, until 2011 when I decided to create my own custom boxes – a development that really opened up new possibilities for my work. I began creating my artworks digitally, which allowed me to engineer the sculptural forms with high precision – then have them manufactured industrially.
My first digitally designed piece was a sculpture of the Tate Modern that I created for a show in Montreal. Because of the expense of shipping it at full size, I designed it so it could ‘transform’ into a smaller, simple box – allowing me to send it to Canada more affordably. The curators then quickly assembled it at the gallery in a few simple steps (see below):
The other advantage (and challenge) of this process was that I could create imagery digitally – meaning it could be scaled, repeated, and modified. This meant that I had a body of icons – or hieroglyphs – that could be used in various artworks, but adapted if necessary. The use of glyphs has become a regular part of my artwork ever since. If you look at the first of these pieces, and the most recent, you will likely see many glyphs that have been recurring over several years now. The meanings of these icons changes depending on the context, and depending on the other graphics nearby. I enjoy using them similar to how poets use words in a poem, full of double-meanings and ambivalent symbolism that can be read multiple ways. Here’s a detail from a recent sculpture called ‘Fisher King’:
The new series of artworks I’m making as part of my current Mythomania project are no different. The only distinction is that I’ve got the time to create more imagery than usual. This will add plenty of new narrative potential to my work over time, while also giving me a chance to experiment stylistically. I’ll post some images of these new glyphs soon but in the meanwhile, here are some views of the completed ‘Fisher King’ sculpture:
