Food for Thought

Golden Eggs (Installation consisting of 360 humanoid eggs)

I'm old enough to remember the Salmonella outbreak in the egg industry back in the 1980's, when a government investigation concluded that one in four UK eggs contained the potentially deadly Salmonella virus. I first heard this disturbing news on TV whilst tucking into my meal consisting of two fried eggs and chips! Which I never quite got over and was the main inspiration for my Golden Eggs installation consisting of three hundred and sixty egg shells,  each conveying either a human face or skeleton yoke - we are what we eat.

Global Food Distribution (Oil painting on wood, 70 cm x 60 cm)               Cow in Hand (Oil painting on wood, 100 cm x 75 cm)

Cow in Hand focuses on the BSE crisis that occurred in the UK around the turn of the century (commonly referred to as Mad Cow Disease). Caused by cows being fed contaminated chopped up animal remains in a bid to artificially fatten them up, resulting in hundreds of thousands of cows being exposed to the disease and were subsequently burnt in mass graves to contain the disease from spreading.

Beef Holocaust I-IV (mixed-media - chalk pastel & watercolour)

The four paintings convey the harrowing issue of poison within our livestock and how, in the name of good economic practise, animals are treated as a mere commodity rather than an intelligent and sensitive creature. Because modern intensive farming relies on keeping a lot of animals confined together in small places, disease can run rampant. Consequently, livestock are fed ever increasing amounts of antibiotics which have resulted in the escalation of new antibiotic resistant strains of virus being found, not only in our livestock, but in humans too.

Meat Dishes

Images of farm animals set within an idyllic countryside setting. The Meat Dish animals are created from dead animal flesh. The narrative aims to raise public awareness as many of us aren't aware of what we're eating when purchasing food presented in neat polystyrene trays covered in cellophane.

To maintain sales, the public are actively discouraged from confronting a more sinister truth that involves the ill treatment, abuse and brutal slaughter of sensitive, playful and intelligent creatures such as cows, chickens, pigs and sheep, often referred to as livestock, being unceremoniously slaughtered at abattoirs across the country.

Charcoal Pig (A4 sketchpad)

I remember drawing this image on a day out with the family to a Visiting Farm in London. The pigs were so friendly and loved being stroked and receiving a good scratch around the ears. On our way home the children insisted on opening the car windows due to an awful smell in the car. We all checked our shoes but the pungent smell persisted, eventually I rubbed my nose and realised the awful smell was coming from my hand after giving the pigs a good scratch.

Charcoal Pig took no more than a couple of minutes to complete. I like its rawness and spontaneous quality, completely different to how I usually approach my work..

Sunset Sheep (Oil painting on canvas, 70 cm x 50 cm)                                      Sheep at Night (Digitally enhanced version)

Sunset Sheep was developed from a photograph I'd taken during a visit to Dagenham's City Farm, situated on the outskirts of East London. I enjoyed the positive environment within the farm where the animals were visibly enjoying the attention from visitors - both young and old. The painting reminds me of good times and is presently on display in our living room.