art + objets d'arts + photography

The Abscission series carries on from then Ablution works, reiterating the notion that man needs to find peace respect and a greater understanding of the natural world. Abscission is the process by which plants shed leaves each fall, removing the old before a regrowth of the new in spring. This act of rejuvenation is akin to resurrection or ablution, ridding oneself of sins and wrongdoings as an attempt to become a better person or worshipper. The human species must learn from abscission, to shed our wrongdoings and ignorance and re-grow a new and better understanding and appreciation for nature.

For millions of year’s plant life has provided mankind with shelter food and oxygen to breath. They have been used as vital ingredients in medicines which save millions of lives and create billions of dollars each year, yet we continually fail to provide a sustainable environment for plant life. The knowledge of plants healing properties have been passed down from indigenous cultures and lost civilizations across the globe. These people worshiped the natural world around them and lived in harmony with it, they understood the power and importance of plant life and even created gods from their presence. Unlike these civilisations, the western world has failed to truly appreciate the importance and power of plants with most people being completely ignorant to their importance in our everyday lives.

We happily consume and destroy plant matter without caring for their future sustainability and the effect that this will have on the natural world.

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The Seeker 2014-2016. Permanently on display @ The Riviera, Ottawa, Canada.

Taxidermy deer head, wooden rosary crosses, beads, rope, fabric, metal.

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”

The stag as a symbolic reference to the Christian faith is arguably one of the most prominent and significant. It is a symbol associated with the soul’s desire for purification, piety, religious aspiration and longing. The stag represents the purest of faith within the human soul, it tells of the journey and path to finding faith as evident in the story of St. Eustace.

The purity and strength of the stag lends it to the greatest of all symbolism within the catholic faith, the symbol of Christ. The stag is a warrior of faith battling against the devil, an evil within nature as represented by the snake. The stag tramples the snake and destroys it with its breath of water triumphing over the devil and all the sins of nature.

Yet the snake is also the symbol of mother nature, the true creator of living things without sin or judgement. The snake represents the ground we stand on, the water we drink and the air we breathe. It represents the planet that mankind has been so quick to dismiss for heavenly ideals and aspirations.

‘The Seeker’ is both a representation of faiths power and its potency. It questions the relationship that certain belief systems have had with nature, and the way in which it has often been disregarded or wrongly accused. The stag represents a nature that has been shrouded by beliefs masking the power of true creation. It is not faith that we seek but nature itself.

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The Trickster (Hares Heads with custom ceramic bases). Permanently on display @ The Riviera, Ottawa, Canada.

The Trickster acts as both a conjurer of spirits and a catcher, it is an object of superstition which takes from various global ideas surrounding such beliefs. It is also an exploration into the unusual coupling of ceramics and taxidermy.

Hidden talismans and symbols on the vessel act to conjure and attract dark spirits whilst the circular mirror acts as a catcher. This idea of spirit catchers originates from Old English Witches’ Bottles that were placed at the entrances to homes as a protection against evil. The use of mirrors is prominent in African cultures where it is believed that looking into mirrors catches the soul. The hare-head stopper is taken from Egyptian Canopic jar lids which reperesented different gods depending on the organs they contained. The Hare is often symbolised as the trickster having dual symbolism of good and evil. In many European countries the hare is believed to be a witch’s familiar as well as a positive symbol of fertility, changing of seasons and the moon. It is this double symbolism of good and evil that makes the hare and the vessel a perfect match.

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Vigilant Things (Eider Duck with Porcupine Bodice). Permanently on display @ The Riviera, Ottawa, Canada.

Vigilant things are reliquary object to nature, they are creatures adorned with materials from the natural world in similar resemblance to the Catholic relics of saints, only without the excesses of grandeur and superiority. The materials used hold their own symbolic references stemming from global and cultural beliefs that are often created from deep understandings and connections with nature. The materials present in the pieces often become just as important as the animal since they are all created from and connected to nature. The symbolic references of the materials also transform the objects into powerful totems holding protective properties through the use of quills or thorns, or the inclusion of bells and other sound-bearing materials allow for these objects to have shamanic properties, becoming instruments with which to navigate the afterlife.

Vigilant things are not only venerations of nature but they are a representation of mankind’s connection with the earth and our connection with our own history as a civilization