I found these objects in stone that I tore apart, destroyed, replaced. These are salvage. I have polished their feet and found them a new home. On one level. A sort of anthropomorphic explanation. What really explains the history of this journey? Only the interplay of unconscious and conscious states. Despite being entirely unconnected in the material world, the male torso-like object fits inside the female objects.

Ive been taking oil pastels and carving them with a toothed stone tool called a drag then, in the pics below, attempting a response to the fires in SF, USA. Why did I carve the pastel? it was an instinctive gesture – a connection to my usual way of working – removing material to leave behind a mark. Also it enables me to suggest sediment – depth –  layers – representing Psyche but also perspective.  Used same drag to tear paper for horizon – destruction and creation.

Now im working on the next phase of the experiment combining my project of making Plinths for found objects (in this case half a copper tie i cut from old masonry on some forgotten job and some brass ties I cut from some stone steps in a monastery that held rods to keep a carpet in place) that have been sitting, neglected for years in my found object collection. I plan to set these into stone using sandblasting but in the meantime I am studying them in the basement, turning off the light and rendering them blind onto paper with minimal gesture. Why? Alexa Cox talked about ‘authenticity of line’ and here I am attempting to find such a thing. But also im playing with the Dali/Breton idea that all found objects have been waiting in the unconscious.