I believe I am drawn to the gravestones that show manifestation of desuetude and decay, as they embody a whole complex of historical associations. The remains of organic elements that once slowly ate away at the embellished exterior are vaguely visible in the above image. I wanted to create a rustic almost unearthed piece to contrast the sharper, clearer, and crisper piece that i created with the plaster cast. I feel the piece above can be related to the geological strata of the landscape built up over the years, merging different materials together to create a visible layered effect on the outer walls.
The work I have created above deals with the notion of entombment and concretising memory. I decided to look at funeral works such as gravestones, mausoleums, sarcophagi, and tombs as they are concrete forms of remembrance. I am interested in capturing time and memory within permanent materials such as concrete, and plaster; in a sense preserving the deceased's existence before it becomes a forgotten, distant memory.
My primary concern is about the form and structure of a piece rather than the underlying meaning of the text that’s included within the work, hence why the text is often upside down and back to front. I feel my work is analogous to artists such as Rachel Whiteread who is also drawn to the surface qualities, the physicality of an object, and how light can illuminate a sculpture enabling it to appear three-dimensional.
