Early Work

Below you can see a selection of early work created during Briony’s degree or soon after. They are included here as they show the origins of later work and are still strong pieces in their own right.

Invisible Umbilical

Whilst reading Siri Hustvedt’s book: What I Loved I was struck by complex interelationships between a couple and their child. In this trinity, the parents are connected through the child. They also appear to hover behind the child like ghost – guarding and guiding him. The parents also get their grounding and stability from the child. In this work I also continued my experimentation with the expressive power of wire to draw in space, using economical lines to express the figures of the mother and father.

Wire and wax, 2004
20 x 28 x 26 cm
Unique, In private collection

The secret lives of the oxygen atom

This is an early work investigating parallele between the micro world of atoms and the macro world of human relationships. In this work, I have anthropomorphised the Oxygen atom as a voluptuous red lady, and represented her in different molecules – according to the geometry of their chemistry: oxygen gas (O2), Carbon dioxide (C02) and Water (H2O). Oxygen has a very particular nature which inclines her to certain relationships with other molecules, yet she can perform very different roles depending on which elements she is interacting with. In a similar way, each of us has a particular nature, which will mean that we always interact in certain ways, yet depending on our environment, we can end up using that nature in very different ways.

Wax, 2004
Unique, In private collection

Thread of Generations

This work explored the idea that we carry our forefathers and mothers inside us, both literally through our DNA inheritance and metaphorically through histories and values, whether they be embraced or rebelled against.

Wire and enamel paint, 2004
Height 140cm
Unique, In private collection

Embrace or the melting of boundaries

The inspiration for this piece was the feeling of a loving embrace. I also was looking at the idea that the skin is an arbitrary boundary defining self.

Lead on steel frame, 2004
Unique, Available for sale