For the whole of my artistic career, I have been on a fascinating and exploratory journey, looking at the meaning of identity and how identity can be lost or stolen. This work draws heavily on recent personal experiences and struggles, finding a way to bring light to government practices and the impact that they have on families and the wider State. It is the progression from Body Politic and Self Contained, carrying my story forward to the current day.

‘Obfuscation’ is a new body of work [not yet exhibited] which examines the recent experiences that I have had, in particular the obfuscation of information by government agencies and the devastating impact on the public as well as individuals, exploring the loss of identity at a multitude of levels. The agencies’ suppression of raw data is a violation of individual human rights and goes against public interest – both of which are studied in this body of work.

The metaphor for the relationship between the Oppressor and the Oppressed is expressed in 3 stages: 1) the fired clay as the oppressed Public/Individual; 2) the wax as the Agencies that incarcerate and suppress; 3) metal work will demonstrate harmful impact that the process of restriction of access to information has on the Individual and the Public.

These 15 busts explore raw emotion locked into human beings – each bust represents both the individual and the public, demonstrating the catalyst and the response to the agencies. This is expressed not with a realistic representation but by exploring the tensions beneath the surface. The photographic imagery, which is halted in time, space and movement, will expose emotion that ranges between turbulence and peace, all of which are experienced by the imposed identity.

The busts will be displayed in a way that conveys the restriction of access to information by the government and the tensions between the two parties, ultimately showing the victory of the agencies against the people. The busts are suspended by a variety of means, some from the wall or hanging from mild steel stands – some will be encased in Perspex boxes on clinical stainless-steel shelving. All will be displayed alongside representations of withheld documents and other restricted data.