object archaeologist x swansea Museum

I have always been surrounded by unusual and curious objects from a young age. Collecting was a normal part of my childhood and has continued into my adult life. Some of these objects are from other countries, some are unusual finds from charity shops or in nature, some are pieces of art that have been handmade by me over the years.

My mum travelled back and forth to Hong Kong working over a period of three years in the late 1960's, collecting unique trinkets from Asia, as well as places that she visited on her way home such as Japan and Russia, picking up souvenirs along the way. Souvenirs are objects that relive a time like a photograph, recording a time, an event, a marker of a time in space. Out of their original environment these objects mirror our own experiences of passing times and places. Most of these items were mass produced, inexpensive items but have been elevated in status by the experience and stories of how she came by them. Some of the jewellery from Japan and China was made from gold and semi-precious stones like Jade, often with origins in traditional eastern ritual. My actor uncle travelled to many different locations around the globe including feature film locations in Iraq and India, collecting objects along the way too that mum and I later inherited and incorporated into our extensive collection of treasures.

These objects and collections are not simply ‘things’. They are part of my history, my family’s history, and form a large part of what makes me who I am as an artist, maker and collector.

I have used these influences in the project here, experimentation is key in the lead up to my final project starting later this year 2026. I am juxtaposing cultural influences from archaeological pieces in the Pitt Rivers/Swansea/British Museum's such as jewellery and metalwork from the Baltic Sea, Visigothic Spain, Byzantine Empire, Anglo-Saxon England, Iron Age Europe, Roman Empire and North Africa. The pieces are almost entirely made-up from found objects, thrifted objects and salvaged workshop offcuts, including the stands.