THOUGHTS & PRAYERS

Coming from the initial inspiration of transubstantiation it was natural that the next material I'd experiment with was blood. At the time I had had a lot of heartbreak and frustration seeing countless reports of mass shootings in the US, where I had lived for four years, with no action taking place. In a lot of instances you would see the term ‘thoughts and prayers’ being thrown around in place of actual change. This brought me immediately to the biblical motif of Pontius Pilate ‘washing his hands’ of Jesus’ death, or even Macbeth with his blood stained hands trying in vain to rid himself of guilt. 

During the development of this piece the horrific murder of George Floyd took place. This brought another perspective to the work, realising that we are so quick to point the finger and look to others for action, and never quick to self-reflect or believe we are part of the problem because it’s a painful truth. It’s a wound we carry from years of being raised and living in a diseased society. To carry that wound with us and remind ourselves there’s always something to be done. We are imperfect but we must take accountability