My work comments on the exploitation of workers under Capitalism in relation to labour, often regarding mine and my colleague’s experiences, as well as stories from the media. My experience as a fabricator means I am accustomed to working with steel and with industrial processes and see etching as a way of conveying my ideas in relation to these methods.

 

A recent body of work named Toil Worn (Spent and Consumed), depicts theories of ‘common sense’ by Antonio Gramsci, which suggest capitalism utilizes the idea that those who are successful economically, are those who have tried the hardest and, “pulled oneself up by the bootstraps”. This in turn would suggest that those who have little financial success, are those who apply the least of their labour power. Cole, NL. (2020) What Is Cultural Hegemony? What Is Cultural Hegemony? (thoughtco.com)

My work depicts this manipulation through the over-exhaustion of steel in nitric acid, working the plates until they appear decayed and often at breaking point. These plates are composed with text and imagery depicting working-class hardships and the injustices of capitalism, which are eerily relevant during an age of austerity and with regards to the cost-of-living crisis. Another element to my practice is printing directly on to steel and using its materiality and physical presence as a surface in order to convey ideas, perhaps in a more striking way than paper or other surfaces can achieve.