PAPER

Fear.

Zeitgeist /ˈzʌɪtɡʌɪst/

The general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era.

A friend reminded me of my love for the old German expressionist woodcuts towards the start of the 2020 lockdown. The exhaustion, the cabin fiver, the uncertainty of it all seemed to be the perfect subject matter. The catharsis was palpable.

Inspired by Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse

Strength.

Time moves on, as it always does. Re-engaging with that which brings me joy, feelings of hopelessness turned to hope. Perhaps we can use this as an opportunity to start from scratch. we could build something better.

Inspired by Sigourney Weaver, Alien

Power.

…”And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Ozymandias, Percy Shelley

First.

This was my first step in engraving, as opposed to woodcut, taken from an evening of life drawing. Minimal, small, something of an experiment, but I love it none the less.

Time.

I sketched this out in between classes on the back of a maths worksheet while working at a school. Taken from a snap shot from South Norwood cemetery, London, UK. One of the Magnificent Seven Victorian cemeteries.

Faith.

Another from South Norwood, this time taken a little more seriously. The vulnerability of the child countered by the stern protectiveness of the mother drew me to this particular monument.

Despair.

We get closer by the day to re entering lock down. Fascism rises across the globe. 15 or so days until the U.S. elections and a possible second Trump term. Put a brave face on.

Inspired by Conrad Veidt, The Man Who Laughs

Deals.

Four make a wager with Death on the eve of battle. The second in my wood engraving experiments, very much in the Dürer vein, and the first to combine my love of art and of Historical European Martial Arts.

Reversal.

Tides turn, threats become saviors. Time to start trusting a little.

Inspired by Linda Hamilton, Terminator 2

Unseen.

Fighting back against an enemy we cannot see would seem impossible, but we are. And we are winning.

Inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Predator

Unheard.

So a slave ship leaves England for Africa containing manufactured goods, just like we all learned in school. Is it carrying actual slaves? No. Is it still a slave ship? Yes.

I know police officers, serving and retired. They are wonderful people. They have fought tirelessly to uplift BIPOC, have stood up to racism within their ranks, and continue to do what is right on a daily basis - and always will. But the organization is a slave ship. It was founded on oppression and will always represent that to the most vulnerable.

We need profound, systemic change from the ground up, and that can't happen until it is pulled to the ground.

Riddle.

Some things are sent to test us. Through hardship we come to understand ourselves.

Inspired by James Earl Jones, Conan the Barbarian

Change

I spent 5 weeks at the Royal Drawing School learning etching, then built an aquatint box at home. Sometimes things just come together and you’re able to hit the ground running. This was one of those times.

Texture

Etching into aluminum gives an interesting, irregular and somewhat granular tone. Something that I find lends itself perfectly to the feathers of this work.

Flight

Continuing the theme, I decided to turn my attention to one of my favorite birds growing up. The mottled pattern in its feathers was something that I hope did justice too.

Icons

Peter Cushing has a face that is perfect for the hard, angular nature of German Expressionism. I’m surprised this didn’t come sooner.

Inspired by Peter Cushing - Star Wars: A New Hope

Loss

I recently confronted a history of sexual violence in my childhood, something that I had been hiding from for more than 30 years. This is representative of that loss of trust, of any sense of safety.

Help

In my road to acceptance and recovery it was necessary to step back and speak to my younger self. To be the person who would hold their hands and tell them everything was going to be OK.

Letters

I have ventured into letterpress. It was only a matter of time to be honest.

Gaslight

I didn’t say those things.
And if I did then I didn’t mean them.
And if I did mean them then you misunderstood them.