"The Splice Plate" functions as a vital psychological anchor within a broader, modular investigation into personal identity and cultural transition. In heavy engineering, a splice plate is a heavy steel reinforcement patch—a flat component riveted across a structural break to fuse two separate beams into a single, continuous load-bearing unit. For an artist navigating the profound shift from the industrial landscapes of Sunderland to a new life in Vietnam, this object becomes a potent symbol for the process of assimilation: the literal mechanism used to bridge a geographical severing, stitching the past directly onto the present framework.
Visually, the print rejects open horizons in favor of a towering, low-angle perspective that forces the viewer into the very crux of the machine. The composition is defined by its hard-edged, dizzying geometry, tracking the point where massive vertical stanchions collide with overhead cross-members. Rather than clean, sterile lines, the blocks are executed with a dense, rhythmic channelling. Pitted, heavily worked block surfaces evoke the coarse patina of weathering steel, creating a stark tonal clash against the deep black voids and the precise, repeating punctuation of the rivet heads.
Executed through intensive hand-burnishing on archival paper, the print mirrors the physical labor of the heavy industries it depicts. "The Splice Plate" is less about nostalgia and more about structural integrity; it captures the internal scaffolding required to carry one's history across oceans, anchoring a shifting identity to an unyielding, permanent core.
2026
This is a linocut printed on lovely Arnhem 1618 white 245gsm paper.
From a limited edition of 25
Size: 19.2 cm x 27.5 cm (7.559 in x 10.827 in)
The work is signed and numbered by the artist.
Each linocut print will not be identical to the next, due to the nature of the printing process, but this adds to its unique quality.
"The Splice Plate" functions as a vital psychological anchor within a broader, modular investigation into personal identity and cultural transition. In heavy engineering, a splice plate is a heavy steel reinforcement patch—a flat component riveted across a structural break to fuse two separate beams into a single, continuous load-bearing unit. For an artist navigating the profound shift from the industrial landscapes of Sunderland to a new life in Vietnam, this object becomes a potent symbol for the process of assimilation: the literal mechanism used to bridge a geographical severing, stitching the past directly onto the present framework.
Visually, the print rejects open horizons in favor of a towering, low-angle perspective that forces the viewer into the very crux of the machine. The composition is defined by its hard-edged, dizzying geometry, tracking the point where massive vertical stanchions collide with overhead cross-members. Rather than clean, sterile lines, the blocks are executed with a dense, rhythmic channelling. Pitted, heavily worked block surfaces evoke the coarse patina of weathering steel, creating a stark tonal clash against the deep black voids and the precise, repeating punctuation of the rivet heads.
Executed through intensive hand-burnishing on archival paper, the print mirrors the physical labor of the heavy industries it depicts. "The Splice Plate" is less about nostalgia and more about structural integrity; it captures the internal scaffolding required to carry one's history across oceans, anchoring a shifting identity to an unyielding, permanent core.
2026
This is a linocut printed on lovely Arnhem 1618 white 245gsm paper.
From a limited edition of 25
Size: 19.2 cm x 27.5 cm (7.559 in x 10.827 in)
The work is signed and numbered by the artist.
Each linocut print will not be identical to the next, due to the nature of the printing process, but this adds to its unique quality.