The Wall

A wise woman told me that stone is a symbol of ancient knowledge. The Wall is a work about ancient knowledge, nature, time, and myself. Made from limestone rocks taken from a wall in Gloucestershire, these stones have appeared in many different forms and as many individual works, ‘The Torr’, ‘Flimsy’, ‘White Line’, ‘The Cragg’, and ‘yes, betroathed’. Before being made into the wall in the garden these stones would have been at the bottom of the ocean. Occasionally, you can still see shells in the rocks. Transferring them in my car, from Gloucestershire, to my studio at the RCA, I have made some memorable journeys with these stones. I have moved them, clothed them, built over them. It has been a love affair and they have become my opus wallus.

These stones often feel totemic. They are mysterious. Little bits of nature, which are permanent. A plant dies, but a rock never dies. They have existed so much longer than us and will continue to exist long after we have gone. In Gloucestershire much of the stone has fossils from the bottom of the ocean. I want to honour these stones, their existence and knowledge. They also represent the ancient knowledge that I would like to stand for in this time of errancy. Often I have added spikes to the stones, I am not sure if these are protective of an attacking armour. An eccentric response to the RCA studio, the public realm. To me, the stones feel so strong yet fragile. When working with them, I am also looking at building unconventional combinations, for example the stones with plastic bag, empty packets of chocolate buttons, newspapers. I am interested to see how these discarded objects can talk with the stones and how far I can push these associations. Contradictions are very present within The Wall, the stones are silent but I feel they lend themselves to poetry. They are ancient but interacting with discarded objects from our time, they are motionless but have moved multiple times. 

Currently The Wall exists as a pile outside my studio back in their homeland, in Gloucestershire. I hope they echo me and I look forward to seeing them appear again in my work.