Britain Contemporary

Clee Hill as Seen from the Mappa Mundi, 2004

Clee Hill as Seen from the Mappa Mundi, 2004

Dolerite

Capriccio; Ballet Shoes, 2004

Capriccio; Ballet Shoes, 2004

Hand-carved alabaster set on an alabaster base

Height 18cm (7 1/8") Width 23cm (9") Depth 13.5cm (5 3/8")

Hermaphrodite – Mappa Mundi, 2004

Hermaphrodite – Mappa Mundi, 2004

Carved Egyptian porphyry 

Height 36.5cm (14 3/8")
Width 13.5cm (5 5/16")
Depth 9cm (3 1/2")

Peregrine, 2005

Peregrine, 2005 Basalt (Dhustone)

approximately 180 x 50 x 60 cm

Installation at Bristol Museum

See more images from the exhibition 'Origins and Influences' at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol:

Cruel Stones of St. Stephen, 2007

Cruel Stones of St. Stephen, 2007

Carved Egyptian porphyry 

Height 16cm (6 1/4") Width 47cm (18 1/2") Depth 35cm (13 3/4")

This work is currently on show with Adrian Sassoon, London.

I stood outside a gate of Jerusalem at the spot where my namesake was stoned to death. The emotion was of horror of a world past and the use of porphyry appropriate to a commemoration of that moment.

Egyptian porphyry was exclusive in the Roman Imperial era and, after the conversion of Constantine, became symbolic of the Holy Blood of Christ and significant in church decoration through the Byzantine era. I have used Egyptian porphyry for a number of sculptures representing saints’ ‘attributes’; griddles dedicated to St Lawrence, the Sword of St George, and the Lance of St Thomas amongst others.

This sculpture dedicated to Stephen has added poignancy in a world where stoning to death is not an act of the distant past.

Figure Turning: After the youth of mottia, 2013

Egyptian Alabaster

Harbour City Estate, Hong Kong Collection

Trio of Bowls, 2014

Trio of Bowls, 2014

Carved Ancient Egyptian pegmatite 

Height 8cm (3 1/8") Width 60cm (23 5/8") Depth 15.5cm (6 1/8")

Private Collection, London, 2017

Bowl of Paradise: Adam, 2015

Bowl of Paradise: Adam, 2015

Carved petrified wood

Height 7.5cm (3") Width 13cm (5 1/8") Depth 10.5cm (4 1/8")

This piece is currently being shown with Adrian Sassoon, London

I worked with petrified wood to represent wooden elements in a coat of arm as a part of a funerary monument for a church in Lincolnshire.

In my investigations in sculpture dealing with religious relics I became preoccupied with how relics often discredited with dating, were still revered. This was an issue of faith and belief and a rich area of interest in a number of sculptures executed through the years in particular ‘The Holy Grail’ in petrified wood whose age could not be discredited.

Grail II, 2016

Grail II, 2016

Carved Egyptian porphyry with gold leaf details

Height 11cm (4 1/4") Width 16cm (6 1/4") Depth 16cm (6 1/4")

This work is currently being shown by Adrian Sassoon, London. 

This special stone has a special place in my work since being given permission to extract stone from the Imperial quarries in Egypt nearly 30 years ago to make sculpture for the new Opera House in Cairo. With its transition from Roman Imperial exclusive use to its use after Constantine in Christian contexts, its symbolism is assured.

Using the rich symbolism that has shaped our western culture, I draw from its well for inspiration. I was inspired by a claim that the Holy Grail was brought near my home in Herefordshire, England by Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalene in their, perhaps, mythic refuge from persecution. There are hundreds of claims of the existence of ‘Grails’, many debunked by scientific proof of age, especially wooden examples. I have used here a stone that may have found its way to a special usage from the Imperial representative in Judaea. I have used other materials too that would confound analysis, having age that cannot be questioned. The form of this grail is from a painting by Juan de Juanes.

The Volcanic Bowl, 2016

The Volcanic Bowl, 2016

Carved volcanic dyke with green gold leaf and gilded bronze element

Height 9.5cm (3 3/4") Width 20.5cm (8 1/8") Depth 16cm (6 1/4")

This work is currently being shown by Adrian Sassoon, London. 

This material is a geological detritus, I suppose. It is a material that is a bi-product of the cooling process of diverse materials which have been squeezed out of the vents in the volcanic flues around the forming basalt, causing vitrification of the surface. Polishing has revealed the marble-like quality of this stone due to superheated silica which has met with a rapid cooling. The rhomboidal shape of the sculpture is characteristic of the ‘chrystaline’ behaviour of cooling rock.

The double hemisphere void in the stone was the result of deciding on the most interesting shape within the form. The figure of eight-like shape suggested that a ‘peanut’ form could reside within it which has been the culmination of the process.

Offering Bowl: Life Force, 2016

Offering Bowl: Life Force, 2016

Carved Egyptian breccia

Height 7.5cm (3") Width 28cm (11") Depth 19cm (7 1/2")

A recent offering bowl formed from Egyptian breccia is engraved with typical images drawn from the the walls of the valley of the quarries.

The original graffiti was wide ranging in its subject matter. It depicted inventories of men and provisions that were tallied by the masters as well images of idols and offerings some simple, others technically very accomplished. Some of the imagery expressed the yearnings of lonely men in a savage desert environment.

Offering Bowl: Shrine of Min, 2016

Offering Bowl: Shrine of Min, 2016

Carved Egyptian breccia

Height 7.5cm (3") Width 30cm (11 3/4") Depth 24cm (9 1/2")

A recent offering bowl formed from Egyptian breccia is engraved with typical images drawn from the the walls of the valley of the quarries.

The original graffiti was wide ranging in its subject matter. It depicted inventories of men and provisions that were tallied by the masters as well images of idols and offerings some simple, others technically very accomplished. Some of the imagery expressed the yearnings of lonely men in a savage desert environment.

Bowl, 2017

Bowl, 2017

Carved Egyptian porphyry

Height 10cm (3 7/8")
Diameter 19cm (7 1/2")

This work is currently being shown by Adrian Sassoon, London. 

This wonderful stone has a special place in my work since being given permission to extract stone from the Imperial quarries in Egypt nearly 30 years ago to make sculpture for the new Opera House in Cairo. With its transition from Roman Imperial exclusive use to its use after Constantine in Christian contexts, its symbolism is assured.