“Firefly” (2022) is a multipart sculpture consisting of 10 similar but unique elements each approximately 25cm x 25cm x 25cm.

The idea of a story is an important part of all my sculptures and in particular my multipart pieces, and they can be seen as snapshots of a moment or sequential moments in time, like physical but abstract manifestations of Edward Muybridge’s photographs for a sci-fi age. A painting or a photograph is always documentary, the image acts like a window into the past. A sculpture or installation exists in the now because the viewer can move around it and movement takes time.

The individual elements are all unique and exist in a space between abstract geometric sculptures, model making, and a kind of cargo-cult mimicry of futuristic machinery. The cargo-cult aspect of the pieces is also a reflection of the problem of reproducibility - the hand made replica of the mass produced object. The markings of the individual elements have common elements and recurring themes that can be seen as evolving and which are also suggestive of encoded communication.

The idea of storytelling is of course a conceit but it informs the steel supports of the objects. Whilst the physicality and relative crudity of the steel supports may seem jarring for objects that are in many ways ethereal and in flight hanging the objects would be wrong. Suspending a sculpture has the effect of suspending any suspension of disbelief - the eye of the viewer is always drawn to the details and implementation of the suspension. The solution to this problem is not to try and hide the details of the implementation of the support but to simply acknowledge it and in doing so render it a non issue.

The arrangement of the individual pieces is flexible, responding to the space in which they are installed.

(Wood, paint, steel, rubber, vinyl)