Biography
Born: 1984, Sheffield, UK. Lives and works in Manchester, UK
Education: First Class BA (Honours) in Interactive Arts, Manchester School of Art 2010 – 2013 2.1 BA (Honours) in English, Exeter University 2002 – 2005
Key Achievements include: Morello Project public artwork, East Croydon, 2025; Sculpture in the City 2019-26 exhibiting artist; Darc Awards Shortlist 2023; Aesthetica Art Prize long-list 2023; ‘Away with the Faeries’ permanent artwork in Perth, Scotland 2023; permanent outdoor art scheme ‘Between the Sun and the Moon’ in Oxford, 2022, awarded by the Oxford Preservation Trust in 2023; ‘The Garden of Floating Words’ purchased for permanent display 70 St Mary Axe in central London 2021; 40 under 40 Lighting Award winner 2021, mountainside projection ‘Tonight We Dream’ in Iceland 2017; solo exhibition ‘Building Text’ at Broadgate London 2018; large-scale DREAMERS installation for Lumiere Durham Festival 2015, immersive installation ‘Light Holds Me Here’ in Manchester 2014.
Statement
I create sculptural works that integrate text, poetry and light within architectural and urban environments. Working across a range of scales, I use sculpture to explore the relationship between permanence and transience, combining industrial materials such as steel, concrete and glass with light, shadow and reflection to create moments of poetic encounter. The solidity of these materials grounds the work within its physical setting, while light and language introduce a more ephemeral, psychological dimension.
Research is fundamental to my practice. Each project begins with an exploration of the history, identity and material character of a place, allowing the sculpture's form, materials and text to emerge in response to its context. Whether creating a permanent public commission or a gallery-based work, I seek to create stories that can be transformed into sculptural experiences, connecting people more deeply with their surroundings.
How people physically encounter a sculpture is central to my work. Text often reveals itself from different points in space, requiring the viewer's participation and movement to complete the work. I am interested in sculpture as an embodied experience, where language is encountered not simply through reading, but through movement, perception and shifting viewpoints.
My material choices are led by concept and context. In one public artwork, ‘The Garden of Floating Words’ neon - traditionally associated with the city, is used to create poetry that appears to float within an urban landscape, its reflections extending the sculpture beyond its physical boundaries.
Elsewhere, mirrored surfaces create illusions of depth and absence, subtly disrupting spatial perception; while precisely engineered laser-cut constructions explore ideas of gravity, structure and architectural form. Across both large-scale commissions, realised in collaboration with specialist fabricators, and smaller self-produced works, I enjoy pushing materials beyond their expected function to create sculptures that feel simultaneously physical and intangible.
Across my practice, I seek to create contemplative spaces where sculpture, poetry, and light invite moments of connection, reflection and imagination. My work encourages people to slow down, become more aware of their relationship to place, and experience poetry as something not only read, but physically inhabited.