Date: 2013
Dimensions: H. 80cm, W. 53cm, D. 2.5cm
Materials: Wood, lead and sandblasted mirrored glass

This wall-based piece reflects an ongoing interest in totemic images of animals or birds (in this case a raven) which were central to many North European traditions. Influences include the art and mythology of the Vikings and Celts but also that of the North West Coast Native Americans who similarly viewed the raven as central to their world.
In a predominantly urban society is it possible to reconnect with our animistic origins through a contemporary language? In response to this idea the work aims to evoke the faint racial memories we may have of the animal archetypes from our ancient past. I have used traditional leaded stained glass techniques, but subverted this by incorporating thin sheets of wood instead of the usual coloured glass. Cuts into the wood create marks normally produced with fired glass paint and these map out a kind of internal landscape contained by the outline of the bird. The wooden section is embedded fossil-like within the mirrored glass that is sandblasted with a matrix of lines. This gives a sense of being entombed, suggesting a frozen slice of time or a vessel perhaps that carries something numinous from the past to the present.