Solo Exhibition at Crewe Hall

This exhibition features the artist’s large outdoor work created between 2019 and 2023. Fabricated from laser cut Cor-ten Steel these largely geometric seed and virus inspired forms sit in perfect balance with both the old and new elements of the surrounding architecture.  The rusty patina compliments the red brick and red sandstone walls, and slate and metal roofs.  Ornately carved stone balustrading, archways and urns are echoed in the silhouette of “Poppy Pod” standing upright to the west of the lawn.  “Winged Seed” stands sentinel on the grass adjacent to the East Terrace, delicate and ephemeral.

On the landscaped area behind the Conference Centre are three menacing looking pod like forms; “Pollen Bomb”, “Astropod” and “Space Flower”, which were created in response to the instability and insecurity caused by the unchecked rise and reach of social media. We live in a world where we must constantly question the sources of the information we receive and be vigilant to forces working to undermine democracy in a post truth age. These “bad seeds” may not be all they appear, with opening hatches, camera apertures and telescopic spikes. Sited within the courtyard in the West Wing is “Viral Cluster”, an installation of three Virus forms of varying size.  These were created in the first year of the global Coronavirus pandemic and are each made from 180 identical laser cut shapes joined to form 32 coronas. These coronas have been welded together to create a geodesic structure in the same way that “Pollen Bomb” and “Astropod” were designed. Their open structure gives them a transparency and fragility in contrast to the robust material from which they are created.