'Claiming to be fools, they became wise'

“Claiming to be fools, they became wise” explores how and why we imbue simple objects, people, places and experiences with a greater spiritual significance, turning them into icons of our connection with a meaningful narrative to give our lives a sense of purpose.

We collect trinkets of our past - photographs, ornaments, bric-a-brac - and place them around us in collections which we enlarge with emotional meaning. We place the objects carefully, dust them, cherish them, recount narratives connected to them. Then replace them in the same location. The objects that we treasure often have no value intrinsically, but the connotations they have and our deliberate act of placement in our collection gives them high emotional value. We worship these items for what they mean to us.  We often cling to memories in the same way. Looking back on our past, our childhoods, with nostalgia, regret and sometimes fear. Selecting the thoughts and feelings to cherish and to block. Searching for a narrative to give sense to the present and the uncertain future.

Religion gives us a set of simplistic shared memories, connections and experiences. A collection of simple childlike narratives with meaningful outcomes which we can recount and reassure ourselves with. Ornate temples displaying collections of aggrandised and “untouchable” icons which we can gaze upon with a sense of awe and wonder. Images of the grotesque and the macabre reinforcing a fear of our own mortality. Theatrical stylised ceremonies that saturate all our senses to seal us off from our daily realities. 

“Claiming to be fools, they became wise” takes a series of found items, old soft toys, recycled frames, mirrors, upcycled timber and elevates them to spiritual icons. By collecting them together and aggrandising their presentation, it elevates them in the same way we do our simple objects in the home - triggering our own memories of childhood and the sense of longing to create a shared narrative of a simpler and more secure time. In escaping the present, we can make our own meanings to our past. We can make sense of our journey, even if the signs we follow are created by a false god.

‘Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands, they have mouths, but do not speak; eyes but can not see. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat, those who make them become like them so do all who trust in them’. Psalm 115:4-8

Work shown in UWE Grad Show starting 9th July 2023- 15th July 2023