In recent years I rely on writing as much as sketching when it comes to planning works, here are some texts for exhibitions and press releases that I use to give more context to my making processes
THE DAILY YARROW
A project between James Beighton and myself
The work for Finkle street use text and images to explore lives of Stockton folk, some famous, some everyday, some imagined incorporating foliate imagery sourced from relevant buildings around the site of the square and text in the form of "headline" style stories that will engage, amuse, puzzle and intrigue visitors to the square encouraging them to explore the site, the wider park and the town as a whole to unlock the full story.
The framing device for the story is the simple and humble Yarrow plant. Upon a site visit earlier in the project it was noted that within this space that will soon be defined by, and full of, the life of the town, at that stage, barely any life existed, having been stripped bare in preparation for the development. There was a single notable exception, on a patch of grass at the perimeter of the site a flurry of yarrow plants were growing and seemingly thriving.
The relationship between yarrow and humans dates back over millennia with evidence that our Neanderthal cousin used the herb (presumably for healing) from its existence within excavation sites. Within human history it has been used as a medicinal herb, a herb for fortune telling, a herb for laying curses or for predicting love, as cattle fodder, as a brewing ingredient (pre-dating the use of hops), as an ingredient of snuff (hence its common name “Old Man’s Pepper”). It is steeped in legend – the centaur Chiron taught Achilles to use yarrow as a means of staunching the flow of blood among his wounded Mermidonas (giving one of its Latin names Herba Militaris - the soldier’s herb). Its most widely used Latin name is Achillea Millefolium – herb of Achilles and herb of a thousand leaves. Folium can also refer to leaves in a book – the potential for it to be the herb of a thousand stories.
On researching Stockton history we found many examples of individuals with the name Yarrow or one of its associated names – Mr & Mrs Yarrow ran the Wild Ox Inn on Norton Street, Lady Ursula Milfoil (the US common name of Yarrow) was a character in a play that was premiered in Stockton’s Royal Theatre at the turn of the twentieth century. We still find it being used and touching the lives of Stockton folk. John Walker dealt in Yarrow through his apothecary business. This plant is used as a device that frames the square helping to tell the stories of its military past (through the old castle), of the pastures which once stretched along the site, of its proximity to healing and health care through the current NHS site and through the numerous apothecaries and pharmacists that existed on Finkle Street and along the perimeter of the site.
The character of Yarrow enters character’s lives across time, taking in the great, the little known and the imagined (though probable) individuals who have made the richness of Stockton’s history. Their lives are told through text and images that summarise the story and open up opportunities for further exploration. James Beighton
TO KEEP HER ANGER STILL IN MOTION
Marbled earthenware, digital design, ply, reclaimed oak, wood stain, copper nails, copper sheet
See more from the exhibition here
Based upon the Shakespeare quote from Henry IV which is featured in the accompanying publication to the exhibition
"Nay, I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but ‘Mortimer,’ and give it him
To keep his anger still in motion."
The repetition and inescapable irritation that Hotspur intends here is my reasoning for creating this sculptural nest. Starlings return to the same nesting spot each year, and by making a nest that can contain all the irritants and worries that I feel, I can do something positive and build something out of them.
Sometimes with big feelings it’s about knowing where to put those feelings at the end of the day
I have somewhere I can keep my anger still
When thinking about what a nest of mine would look like in my internal landscape of Effodia, i immediately saw layered bold overlapping patterns, with ceramic tests and metal shards littering the surface
I like to have everything at once, Im impatient in life, and in making, and this hypothetical next would include all the dopamine collected throughout the day.
The nest is precariously balanced on the blue bark of the hypothetical tree like the impatient creature i am
Held together with copper nails the tree itself seems like a bad foundation to house such an important structure with elements of the ceramics resting on the base of the tree, as if ive kicked them out during an aggressive sit, this nest makes space for all the big feelings to live, unless some are kicked out
This is the first look into what sculptural elements exist in Effodia, and It was a creative joy to make
I have always collected rocks, during walks on beaches or meandering through streams. The ‘Amnis’ watercolours document the places these ‘rocks’ exist within my internal world, capturing the delight one can feel when stumbling across a particularly good specimen. These works focus on bodies of water where these gnarly or smooth forms can be found, with the patterns heralding the current they are discovered in.
When creating these sometimes clashing patterns I thought about the word ‘Undercurrent’, relating to a force in water that pulls you along and feelings brewing under the surface. The patterns overlap and rewrite themselves accumulating more feelings as the work progress. The patterns flow or are more staccato depending on the feelings they are pulled along by.
FROM THE MARGINS
Ply, acrylic paint
See more from the series here
‘The Margins’ is the cliff face separating inside and out, and to gain entry into this internal world you must enter through cave like tunnels.
There is something both exhilarating and terrifying about caves, caverns and cliff edges, where rock falls and mud slides can smother you.
These painted ply works are part of that cliff face, with pink rivulets eroding the surface and blackened shadows looming.
I am constantly collecting science fiction imagery mentally, and I keep going back to the film Riddick, where landscape shots of cliffs and valleys have stuck in my mind, and Ant Man where there is always pinks and purples in the pathways between worlds in the quantum realm.
ACUMULUS
Collaged ply, ceramics and copper
See more from the series here
Works created in my practice reside in EFFODIA, a world built to house the internal chaotic landscape of my mind.
Where some works could be seen as the structural or built up additions to this internal world, ACULUMUS are based on clouds, accumulating cumulus, where ideas are held and ‘rained’ down upon me in the overwhelming, fast paced, unrelenting way that my AuDHD brain operates.
These designs embody new directions of research, collaging firm geometric and bold forms with ephemeral lines that trail off as the ideas flit in and out of my consciousness and blended backgrounds where patterns stop and start. Not all ideas are full of course
The works are dynamic, with literal ‘bolt ons’ flitting new dopamine fueled possibilities across the main wooden and ceramic body, swinging around constantly ready to overwhelm.
These wall based works should be displayed at least 5ft off the ground, so that I could reside underneath and have them shower me with inspiration.
EFFODIA
Past, Present and Future Beginnings
Since I began working with clay in 2014 I have created works that appear ‘other worldly’ and rooted in science fiction but it has taken until 2025 to realise that this other world is internal and personal to me.
With each project over the last 10 years I have developed ways to handle clay through mould making, vacuum forming and uniting woods and metals and drawn designs. These collages have always carried with them a sense of the unknown, and whilst I have referenced abstract expressionism, constructivism and surrealism in writing about the works they always seemed to reference themselves more than any works by other artists gone before them.
In 2023/24 I came to the realisation that I was neurodiverse, which is such an alien term in itself, with a diagnosis of ADHD and Autism setting the stage for much self discovery. In the back of my mind I have always tried to make work that doesn't contain my personality thinking that audiences may then find a way in easily, but it seems that I have always made work about me, I just wasn't 100% sure on who I was yet. The responses to my honesty about my mental health have pushed me to make more personal work, telling the tale of my forays into therapy, of my depression and stress and how I can use creativity to manage it.
Since these diagnosis I have found a method for creating that is more personal and references the ways in which creativity and mental health are linked.
In the months after my more recent solo show at Inspired By… gallery I have taken stock of what I've made so that I may make more, with research and development plans in place for 2026 I have begun a timeline of ways to understand what's next.
I have gone back through my archive of work and a pattern has emerged, and a realisation that all my work is more closely linked than I first thought.
I speak about inner landscapes in my most recent work, as if this is a new strain of discovery, but in fact it seems like everything I've made over the last 10 years has been an exploration into this internal world, which I have now named Effodia.
This title, which is a play on the Latin ‘to dig out or excavate’ feels like my method for creation, I take a feeling and I dig it down, exposing its foundations and then create work from that.
So Effodia is born, or it has been discovered, and the zones in which you can venture through this world get more complex as you get closer to the ‘Cordis’ or heart. I have now created a context for a lifetime of work, where series or individual pieces can find a home and live side by side regardless of how different they are.
Over the next year I will delve into this landscape, understanding where past works live and plotting what new works can ‘dig deeper' into this place.
This world holds all the joys and anxieties I will ever possess, now I just need to make a map.
ON BELONGING
Solo show at Inspired by.. Gallery
2025
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On Belonging
Belonging to a moment is difficult for me, with a racing impulsive mind that never sits still in a thought, and a body that cannot sit still in a place.
This exhibition of ceramics painting and drawing is a deep dive into my inner landscapes, displayed in a gallery surrounded by a rich physical landscape, as a way to stop time and make me belong to this moment.
Works draw inspiration from defined present feelings and investigates possible futures. Variations of forms and colours speak to a clarity in understanding my current mental state which is reflected in definite shapes and bold colours whilst ethereal forms and pastel tones consider the unknown future.
The boundary between my present and future mental landscapes is considered throughout the works, with the paintings and drawings documenting these relationships. The sculptural forms are created in a way that suggests they have been ‘plucked’ directly from one of these inner landscapes, like a soil sample to test.
I belong to these landscapes, positive and negative ones alike and move between them daily, spending time with these amorphic forms that sit somewhere between understood and recognisable and dreamlike.
INTERNAL LANDSCAPES
Paintings from 'On Belonging' Solo show at Inspired by.. Gallery
2025
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I dissected feelings over 10 painted works, dividing these into current and future emotions to create internal landscapes.
The current were displayed in black frames, black feels like a definite colour, its made a decision and it is secure. The 5 future internal landscapes in a open, white coloured frame spoke about the ability to change, there are different paths in these works were decisions have not yet been made.
This represents how I understand the future, I cannot plan long term as the distant future in no way exists yet for me. I can wish, sure, but understanding steps to get to the future I want or need evades me.
The forms in the present are tight, rigid, even when portraying something positive, whereas the future landscapes encompass all the paper and spill over the edge, where no end is in sight.
IN SITU
Sculptures from 'On Belonging' Solo show at Inspired by.. Gallery
2025
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The sculptures are a series titled ‘In Situ’, which in Latin means ‘In the original location’. These ceramic forms with wooden bases are shapes taken from the painted landscapes and like soil samples they are 3d renderings of the landscape. To make these pieces terracotta clay was pressed into a plaster mould to form the foundations, then the objects grew from these bases, letting the material decide the final sculptures.
The wooden plinths extend patterns developed in the ceramics, like a wedge of a place has been cut out of an inner landscape and placed in the gallery space.
These sculptures are like roots, grown from a place that focuses on representing what a feeling could look like.
THE MOMENT
Commissioned art trail for National Parks
2024
The ‘Moment’ art trail project asks visitors to the National Park site to slow down on their journey and be present in that moment in the landscape. These ‘Moment’ designs have been created through my own journey through the site, where I paused at certain points along the trail and considered what I saw, reflected on how I felt, and what I noticed in that moment of stopping.
I translated these thoughts into a written statement about that location which was then developed into drawings and then in clay. This method of generating drawings is through an evolving understanding of my own mental health. The ability to slow down and be aware of how you are feeling and to create something positive has been crucial in my own life, and by sharing this process I hope to connect with new audiences.
OUT OF MY MIND
Solo show at Redcar Palace
2024
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‘Out of My Mind’, was a solo show of ceramics, sculpture and 2d works exhibited at Redcar Palace from 7th September to 2nd November 2024. The work explored the relationship between creativity and neurodiversity, and there were multiple layers of reflection explored throughout the exhibition spaces, with a focus on how my making and mental health are intertwined.
This new body of work explores what it is to exist inside a creative brain, investigating the stresses and pressures of making. I spent time examining how and why I create, using these questions to influence the forms and collections of 3d work throughout the rooms.
The first space viewers will encounter reflects on mistakes during making, contemplating the cracks and fissures that occur in ceramics. This positive reflection on moving forward and working through pressure is explored through ceramics, drawings and photographs of cracked works. I wanted honesty to run throughout the show, exploring the ceramic making processes in comparison to understanding mental health.
Collecting and reusing found materials has always played an integral part in how I create, with the rush of dopamine in finding interesting objects and furniture. These forms are then developed into moulding devices for the ceramic sculpture through vacuum forming and plaster, or used as display mechanisms in the final installation.
The Moment series of work explores what it is to understand a feeling in a moment, that burst of anger, of anxiety, of happiness. I captured these feelings through my drawn works, isolating elements of emotion and giving them shapes. These drawn designs are displayed alongside ‘The Moment it comes in’ a sculptural collage that unites multiple surfaces donated by friends and family focusing on the action of saving offcuts objects in case they ‘come in’.
I identify fleeting feelings in ‘Brain Noises’ a series developed over 2d and 3d works displayed in a room flooded with pink paint and neon lights. These designs aim to capture the momentary sparks of emotion, the unidentifiable and unclear spasms of happiness mixed with anxiety, a blast of guilt topped off with hunger. They are the emotions that linger in your mind that you can't quite understand; a deeper dive into the depths of my brain past the clearer moments and into the crevices where feelings flicker into existence. The bright pink tones aim to emulate my pink squishy brain, as well as using non-traditional lighting to create a more accessible exhibition experience.
OUT OF MY MIND - CRACKS and FISSURES
Solo show at Redcar Palace
2024
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Working with clay is a fitting metaphor for working on your mental health. There are so many trying processes, making the piece then waiting patiently for it to dry, slowly, so cracks don’t form where sections have been joined. There is the first firing, where you hope undiscovered cracks don't appear, praying to the kiln gods that the piece survives. After that you have to understand what glaze you can apply that will stay in place, that won't shiver, craze or slump from the work. The last firing is the worst, waiting to see if any fissures will appear, even though it seemed fine during the rest of the process.
How I have handled these tense moments shows how much I have grown through therapy. Every piece has a crack somewhere, and the best thing to do in that moment when you open the kiln at 60 degrees and see that break in the laboriously painted pattern is breathe and fix the problem. Being upset really won’t make the piece whole again.
There are no cracks that can’t be filled and no destruction that can't be rebuilt.
I used to get so sad when pieces broke, but that is the way of the kiln. Every moment up til that last kiln door opening is based on how you understand the material, and even then, after all that patient waiting and nurturing the clay still moves where it wants to.
So fill up the holes and learn for the next time.
SOUVENIRS
Watercolour, pen and ink drawing series
2023
This work is about world building,creating spaces for my sculpture to exist in. I recently realised that I create my own frame of reference as a coping mechanism, a way to understand the works I make in a new reality. I enjoy retreating into another dimension where forms and colours are elemental, and the once abstract sculptures now make complete sense.
The text is inspired by my day to day journeys using my observations to extrapolate key visual references. I am writing about what a person may find in a parallel universe focusing on textures the wanderer may find, the colours they see, and the objects they collect
In this drawing series there is a section of text, explaingin the discovery of one single object, its location, its weight.
As your feet touch the dusty surface your ankle brushes past an object. It has a smooth, rusty coloured cone on top of a bulbous bottom. There are cleaner elements to one side where the weather hasn't had a chance to destroy it. The pinks and blues look almost new, with the clean, defined painted lines intact. It feels nice in your hand, a good weight and such a smooth surface on the crisp clean side that you can't help but stroke.
This was, and still remains in some part, a beautiful object. Your whole palm fits around it, and you put it on your bag to show them later.
There is an orange mist on the horizon, a dusty haze that covers the objects you find. There is something so ethereal about this landscape, it is your favourite part to explore. Underfoot you can still see some preserved green grass. It has a deep rich colour, which is surprising considering the new weather.
Hidden between the grass blades is something shiny, a copper coloured edge of metal protrudes. You reach down and grasp it between your fingers, it feels buried beneath the ground so you pull gently, wanting to collect whatever it is in its entirety. The object is stuck so you apply more force to extract it, suddenly it gives and the pressure unbalances you. As you steady yourself you look at your treasure, still tightly grasped between your fingertips.
The sides of this object are smooth, curved and sinuous, with the hard piece of metal stuck in the top on a bulbous section. It feels like the metal has impacted the surface with great force, but at the same time the patterns on the object, possibly created due to weathering, have built up around the metal piece.
You have seen a lot of objects that feel separate and unified, making you think that whatever happened here happened quickly, but a long time ago.
MOOCHING
Pedestrian crossing and planter designs for Middlesbrough Train Station
2024
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This commission for Middlesbrough Council was in conjunction with the redevelopmentt of the train station area in the town.
This pedestrian crossing planter design was created to encourage passers by to slow down and investigate their surroundings, finding hidden detail on the buildings and admiring the architecture around the train station.
The main design fro the pedestrian crossing focuses on carved stone leaves not eh buildings around Zetland road, creating a repeat pattern that acts as a decorative border to the crossings on the street itself.