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castles.

An Englishman’s home is his castle, inviolable against all comers. The obsession with land ownership in the UK seems increasingly ludicrous and unsustainable. These works seek to highlight the idea that private ownership of such tiny quantities of the earth’s surface is an abject ideology given that in isolation, the rapid demise of its owners is inevitable and that all in such tenure are entirely reliant upon infrastructure surrounding their inviolable castle, with land value ascribed accordingly – for sustenance, energy, waste disposal, etc. As with much of my work, the notion of transient passages is also further explored, animals, the flight of birds, currents in the air bringing microscopic debris and other visitors, habitual use. The elevated view in these works suggests the awareness or perhaps scrutiny of external agency.

'Castle 1', 2017, watercolour on paper on plywood, 14 x 22cm

'Castle 2 - mineral rights insofar as they are owned', 2017, watercolour on paper on plywood, 120 x 32cm.

castle 2 detail

'castles 3-13 - embedded private network', 2017, watercolour on paper on plywood, 45 x 125cm

castles 3-13 detail

castles 3-13 detail

'Castle 14', 2018,  watercolour on paper on plywood, 15 x 25cm

'Castle 15', 2018, watercolour on paper on plywood, 14 x 23cm

Castles 15, 1 & 14

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