I believe Music is part of a 360 degree landscape that encompasses the visual arts, performance & fashion. With producer, artist and long term collaborator Matthew Hardern I have begun to explore and expand the influences, context and processes that feed and inform the musical compositions.
The central themes of ‘Albion Voice’ are movement, conflict, the loss of, and search for identity and the desire for resolution. Although innate in people of dual nationality and mixed heritage the push & pull of cultural polarities & the search for personal, local and National identity is universal.
As individuals and communities we face the forces of mass migration and globalisation and must adapt to these changes without guidance or precedent; this international discourse embraces every nation and all people.
The appropriation of Traditional British Imagery, infused with post colonial symbolism, is influenced by works such as Yinka Shonibare’s Diary of a Victorian Dandy.
The lurid & striking images of Gilbert & George’s Jack Freak Series became one of the catalyst’s for writing the record & captured the spirit of anarchic disdain for a country both loved & loathed.
Jamie Reid’s iconic God Save The Queen Sex Pistols artwork is an enduring image of an era when British, music, art & performance became truly united whether it wanted to or not.
The inclusion of traditional Indian Bridal jewellery, in The Indian Queen portrait, attempts to subvert the sting of the Reid’s original safety pin, while reinforcing the pain and complexity of a marriage between cultures.
Jeremy Deller & Alan Kane’s Folk Archive is a celebration of local craftsmanship, pop & subculture who had previously never exhibited their work in a gallery. The ‘Folk Archive,’ has created a context for those communities who exist outside the traditional gallery world & given their ideas a voice.
As artists who originate from London’s Club & Music underground we are part of a tradition and continuity that gives us great pride as much as it does great trouble.
In a time when British Trade has moved overseas & local craftsmanship is in decline, we took a political decision to get our ceramics and other works made in Britain.
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