Grave Beat  
2011
Soft sculpture, mixed media with metronome
200 x 50 x 20 cm 

​

​

Although in the form of a three-dimensional soft sculpture coupled with a metronome, this work shares its concept and method of execution with my series of artworks entitled Shroud. Significantly, the beat of the metronome has been slowed to a deadly beat, to signify the end of life and the gradual transformation that happens in the grave. 

​

Like Shroud IV, this work was composed with many pieces of folded burnt canvas, each one concealing a token from the natural world, while the burnt area hints at that which is hidden within. A dialogue is established between each individual piece: collectively they are like many small burials signifying sites of transformation, its processes hinted at but ultimately shrouded in secrecy. 

As with many of my works, Grave Beat can be perceived as simultaneously completely abstract or completely figurative. To me, it is an example of how my practice explores the liminal space between figuration and abstraction.