ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I have long been fascinated by thoughts relating to the world beyond what we perceive as reality; the workings of the universe in not just the tangible
sense, but perhaps also the transcendental 'othemess' which fuels the 'wheels of fate.'
What is really out there... beyond light and dark... and beyond the cold vacuum? Whether one is scientific or religious, or both, I feel that the prospects
are fantastic. How great it would be to find that beyond all of the confusion is the ultimate order.
My work is based around this type of enquiry and it is a similar question which I want to ask the viewer.
Yet, let us keep a view of the whole picture. Return your attention to the still, dark corner of the room... the closest hidden space which is often
neglected. Here too is a wondrous thing, a tiny part of the universe. And take for instance time, that is time as we understand it... could there be other
types of such a thing? And the light that we see, how long has it taken to reach our eyes? All of these things to me are sources of great inspiration.
I hope mainly for my work to be interpreted as a philosophical tool - a tangible image of thought. By exchanging such thoughts, we as an artistic
community can surely gain continual inspiration.I suppose that I have arrived at this point in much the same way that most of us form our views.
I have had similar experiences to many... life, death, the restrictions of society. How l wonder where the journey takes us.Below is a selection of my
work, including text, photographs and a drawing of mine.
Notes 1-3 in the text are given at the foot of this page.

The main platform of my work is based around a theorem which I devised as a form of symbolism, and believe that it operates where the field of geometry
would meet perhaps philosophy. These two subjects I believe necessary for a considered attempt of representation and suggestion. By this I mean that in
order to represent, and in this case chart, one can apply the aspects of, say geometry, to portray volume, content and perspective and therefore use them
to display the symbolic images in almost a scientific way... or at least, this is the attitude one takes when approaching the subject. The science of
geometry, afterall, is the fact of space.

I would like to briefly describe the underlying thoughts concerning this idea. The Theorem manifests itself as a system of drawing used to chart physical,
emotional and mystical events as they occur within time and space. The Theorem suggests that the 'Mechanics of Time' function in such a way that time
is constantly developing along all physical dimensions simultaneously from the one single point in which it once started. As this structure progresses,
alternative existences are generated along all dimensions dependent on certain decisive events. I believe that these cyclically lead to further
consequences throughout time.

A point that I would like to mention here is that I find it fascinating to ponder the chance of another 'present' moment in time existing, although I myself
am unable to access it as decisions that I made alternatively have lead me to this specific point in time instead. However their existence cannot be
ruled out as the option was once available to me; and possibly, within space, still exists as an actual place. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein
once wrote..."In geometry and logic alike a place is a possibility: something can exist in it..." 1

I intend that these charts map out the results of this process which I term Areas of Time, and in turn create what I call a Graphical Analogy.
The Graphical Analogy included here is entitled 'The Interior Castle'. This is my interpretation of Saint Teresa of Avila's description of the
structure of the soul; and consecutively, union with God. She describes in her text that God exists within the seventh and final chamber of the
interior castle. This is infact the structure of the soul [made up of seven inner compartments within the 'i

The work entitled 'The Series', incorporates this fundamental idea although I also wanted to introduce a greater element of the physical object.
The basis of this piece of work is that the information is stored within a precious object [here, the set of books.] I am extremely fond of the idea
of a matching set or group, possibly only identified individually by some particular subtle marking which in this case is the title. These particular
items, I display as sculpture and are not allowed to be viewed without protective gloves. Here, the idea being to generate the preciousness of the
items as the information within is limited to very few viewers of my choice; and also to maintain the items in their perfect state.

I have always felt that this idea could be extended in many ways... this is what lead to the production of another piece entitled 'The Book of
Secrets'. This is a small and slender book, and again I wanted to concentrate on the preciseness of an object. It is a book which cannot be
read or opened, infact it cannot be touched... the 'inner secrets' never fully understood. A fascination for me is the wonder of the myth and in
producing the 'Book of Secrets', it was this preciousness that I wanted to fit into the work and try and generate the type of sacred object that
one might associate with a type of mysticism. This work exists in two forms: as the actual sculpted book itself which is displayed out of physical
reach of the viewer, and, as a piece of photography which detaches the viewer a second time from the item, making physical connection with it
all the more impossible. As the answers to the mysteries of the existential elude us, so too does this item. Personally I believe the book to be
simply a suggestion of, and reference to, such mysteries...

"Throughout history philosophers and mystics have sought a compact key to universal wisdom, a finite formula or text which, when known
and understood, would provide the answer to every question... Like God the esoteric book is simple yet undescribable, omniscient,
and transforms all who know it" 3

I would hope that a common thread is evident throughout these subjects.. this being that such ideas require, in my opinion, an amount of
contemplation and pondering. On my part, this is all I ask, which in itself I find simply a humble activity.

The 'Instruments of Contemplation' are simply an extension of this process and exist purely to suggest a topic of thought. They symbolise
a specific state. Initially the physical climate and the location of the objects are evident as content, however, the image displays a situation
which has been used to ponder and evaluate matters concerning moral nature and the existential, for example.

These photographic images are of 'things' which exist yet they are images of something which cannot be seen. The priority of the setting is
to contain the thought, which, is what ultimately exists in and as the work.

NOTES

1. P.5, Mystic Union - An Essay in the Phenomenology of Mysticism by Nelson Pike. Pub. Cornell University Press. [1992]
2. Section 3.411 of the Tractatus Logico Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein. Pub. Routledge & Kegan Paul. [1988]
3. P.134, The Mind of God by Paul Davies. Pub. Penguin. [1992]