Arts Practice
A Meditation Of Death
“A Meditation of Death” invites viewers to contemplate the profound impact of conflict through a poignant marriage of technique and symbolism. Comprising 12 8x10” lumen prints, this body of work employs a meditative process. I have made a stencil by piercing approximately 2000 tiny holes into black card. That card is then placed over light-sensitive photo paper and exposed in sunlight for up to 15 minutes or so. The result in each unique lumen print is a series of tiny minute shadows, resembling a starry constellation when printed. They transcend their aesthetic nature to convey a sombre narrative. Each piercing acts as like a personal active protest, when most of the global reaction to what is happening in Gaza, is completely inert.
The resulting lumen prints serve as a visual metaphor for the countless lives lost in Gaza, embracing the innocence of children, the vulnerability of babies, the resilience of women, and the sacrifice of men. Each of tiny dots on the photo paper bears witness to the human toll exacted by the on-going genocide, urging us to confront the harsh realities of our shared humanity.
Each lumen print is then photographed digitally and manipulated so that shadow becomes light, and light becomes dark. The dark now becomes night with a constellation of 24,000 little deaths (as of the 3rd January 2024 when this was made).
The conceptual foundation of “A Meditation of Death” draws inspiration from the Maranasati meditation, a contemplative practice centred on the inevitability of death. This meditation aligns with the artwork’s overarching theme, encouraging introspection on the consequences of humanity’s dark history of violence and the impermanence of life.
As an artist, my intent is to challenge the notion that war resolves anything; instead, it perpetuates cycles of suffering, breeding hate through acts of terror and barbarism. Through the delicate, labor-intensive process of creating the stencil and then each lumen print, “A Meditation of Death” seeks to evoke empathy, fostering a collective awareness that transcends borders and ideologies. It beckons viewers to reflect on the shared fragility of life and the urgent need for compassion in the face of profound loss.
The body of work below comes from my horror of what is happening in the Gaza Strip and by creating work it helps me mentally but also by hopefully exhibiting it one day it will provoke a response from our governments to act on behalf of humanity!
I have listed the amount I will donate from any print sales of this work to UNHCR and it will be done in your name.
A Meditation Of Death
1.4m x 60cm fine art print - Unframed $1640 incl GST. From the price of this artwork I will donate $500 to the UNHCR in your name.
Framed option available for Australian residents. $1980 incl GST + freight. From the price of this artwork I will donate $800 to the UNHCR in your name.
This print is created from the individual lumagraphs below it.
This series, Watermelon Displacement, represents the diminishing size of land left for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Forced to evacuate from the north into ever decreasing “safe” pieces of land. In reality the remaining Palestinian people who are still alive, are crowded into smaller and smaller areas, so the smaller the wedge the more the people. I created the shape of the watermelon by piercing holes in black card. I lay the card over photographic paper in the sunshine for 15 minutes each time. I created the shape of the ever decreasing wedge by underexposing different sized wedge shapes.
The watermelon is a symbol of Palestinian unity, hence the shape used in this work. The Israeli government banned the Palestinian flag and its colours red, green and black in the 1967 war. During the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Israeli government lifted the ban. It is a powerful symbol for the Palestinian people. People are not allowed to have drawings with watermelons on it, OR to even carry a slice of watermelon.
Permanent Ceasefire Now!
Watermelon Displacement Prints
Each image printed onto fine art paper is 80x60cm unframed and $480 incl GST each.
From the price of this artwork I will donate $150 each to the UNHCR in your name.
A set of 5 unframed is $2200 incl GST. UNHCR DONATION $750 in your name.
Freight is exclusive to the prices.
The Flour Massacre
Using flour from my pantry I have created two works representing the horrific “Flour Massacre” in Gaza on 29th February 2024. Aid trucks were allowed into an area of Gaza. Over 100 people were shot by the IDF and many more injured. BBC Verify investigation here
Flour Massacre 1 (on the left below)
Unframed fine art print 18x12” $480 incl GST with UNHCR donation $150 in your name
Framed fine art print 18x12 $800 incl GST with UNHCR donation $250 in your name.
Flour Massacre 2 (on the right below)
148cm x 80cm wall chiffon hanging with red needlepoint $2400 incl GST
Empty Eid/Aid
Children and adults are starving in Gaza. This deliberate and inhumane act by the occupying Israelis, is in contravention to the UN. It must stop! Empty bowls photographed to look like they are on a table using the keffiyeh or kufiyyeh for a table cloth. I feel helpless watching the continued resistance of the Israeli occupiers to uphold humanitarian law and ensure people are fed. This was made for Eid Mubarak, when feasting after Ramadan should be happening.
Individual bowl fine art paper prints 16x16” are $350 incl GST each. Your UNHCR DONATION = $100 in your name
Individual bowl fine art paper prints 16x16” framed are $660 including GST. UNHCR DONATION = $200 in your name
ONE GRID of 16 framed 16x16” prints $8800 incl GST UNHCR DONATION = $3000 in your name.
Freight exclusive of the above pricing.
On the 30th January 2024 The Guardian published an article of the level of destruction within the Gaza Strip. The image above on the left is a screensnap of that article, and all the areas of red have been destroyed. On the right I created an artwork using that screensnap, and I made a lumagraph by exposing photographic paper in sunlight under black card that was punctured with little holes to make a stencil of all the areas that have been destroyed.
Gaza Stripped
Framed 16x24” fine art print $660 incl GST. UNHCR DONATION = $200 in your name
My next work I hope to make a large cyanotype on a large piece of material, at the weekly Canberra protest. This will involve the people to lay down and hold still for about 10-15 minutes to create a large image of protesters hands. This act will be videoed also. Symbolic of so many things, hands can reveal so much.