Artist's Statement

My inspiration comes from collections, both those of museums and the individual, whether the discerning Victorian lepidopterist, the eccentric 'collectaholic' of memorabilia, or the accumulated bricolage from everyday life. Using broken, discarded and trivial objects from my own collections, I seek to create site-specific sculptures, installations and interventions for public spaces, museums and galleries.

Many of us have a primal urge to collect. Historically a 'cabinet room' symbolised the owner’s power, education and wealth. It was a collection of curiosities to be looked upon with awe and wonder. Today, with increased mobility, technology and globalisation, the world has shrunk and the power of objects to seduce and amaze is diminished.

To engage the observer, I look to philosophies such as wabi sabi which finds an “intuitive appreciation of transient beauty in the modest, mundane, imperfect or impermanent” and where the multiplicities of an emotion are distilled into a haiku, or the totality of nature is condensed into the art of ikebana.

Using the museological processes of taxonomy, restoration, conservation and display I look to build connections between times, materials and culture and provoke a sense of unexpected fascination the worlds of 'artificialia' and 'naturalia'.

In exploring methods of preservation and repair, the broken is celebrated and the notion of value is accentuated using techniques including the Japanese craft of Kintsugi, the Egyptian process of mummification or the art of taxidermy.

In the words of Charles Paget Wade “Let nothing perish”.

My background is in textiles, where much of my work involves collaborating with community groups. More information about these projects can be seen on www.pocketmouse.co.uk.