My work explores the use of kinetics as a way of inhabiting a space and creating a sense of the uncanny.  Hybrid machines - half science experiment, half medical equipment - breathe using rubber lungs.  Everyday inanimate objects move with distinct purpose as if possessed by a house-proud poltergeist and dry reeds rustle and part to allow the passage of an invisible visitor.

 

My work aims to strike a delicate balance between amusing and mesmerising. Gentle rhythms and subtle movements are articulated through simple mechanical means. Unexpectedly these artificial mechanisms do little to deter anthropomorphic associations and paradoxically enhance the notion of a cognitive machine.  The kinetic piece is often presented as the central focus of an installation and lights are used to create dramatic shadows that distort shapes and exaggerate movement.  Curious viewers are encouraged to explore the space in order to make sense of the unfamiliar environment.  The intended impact of my work on the viewer is central to the design and aims to stimulate a fascination with the unfamiliar. 

 

Whilst creating new work for the Jesmond Dene Banqueting Hall, I investigated the site in the role of urban explorer, reconnoitring the location and researching the history of the building and the parkland that surrounds it.  Commissioned by industrialist and inventor Lord Armstrong in 1860 and designed by architect John Dobson, perhaps what is less well known is Lady Armstrong’s considerable contribution to the design of the Dene.  My art installations in the ruins of this once splendid building are designed to interrogate the relationship between architecture and landscape and pay homage to the woman who played an influential role in its conception.

 

The dilapidated Banqueting Hall sits within a lush landscape that threatens to overwhelm it. Poised between ruin and regeneration it is a metaphor for the futile attempt of man to control nature.   The Dene, originally designed to reflect a romanticised rural setting with woodland, crags, waterfalls and pools has now become overgrown.  I will use this unique location to address  the perception of conflict between man and nature. Subtle kinetic interventions work independently on the animation of the space, inviting the viewer to participate in the regeneration of the vacant ruin.