"Pigeon, Pigeon and Mole" Sculpture

Ted Bridgewater was the famous Rabbit Catcher of the Corvedale, and my great grandfather. His skills and knowledge have been passed down through the generations, my father being one of these. He in turn, took me shooting, ferreting and beating and now my son is gaining this knowledge - a trade that is now misunderstood and on the demise. Having grown up learning the importance of the world in which we live and the necessity to 'keep a healthy balance', to live from the land. We now live in a world where this imbalance is threatened through technological and scientific advances and over consumerism. Sourced from gamekeepers, I use the animals dead bodies to make prints and translate them into wood engravings, capturing an aspect that is not normally seen. I have used preserved animal elements incarcerated in wire cubes, and although not used in their entirety they still retain their animal appearance. Despite being seen as grotesque, they exhibit a macabre type of beauty, taking an everyday thing that is intrinsically dicomforting and re-framing it. Life and death are one of the same. With the death of one comes life to another, and this needs to be respected. If we can accept our own mortality, we can then in turn, appreciate the significance of life.