I remember somewhere being told, ‘You have to learn the classics to then tear them apart’. This is something I was drawn to from an adolescent – though I wasn’t sure why. I strived to achieve ‘perfection’ in my drawing and sculpture, only to realize that this often resulted in rigid, prescriptive, over worked imitations of nature. Destruction, freeing up one’s way of working and taking risks resulted in much more dynamic and emotive work.

All of my ‘Ruin-Lust’ works explore this idea of needing destruction as much as creation. Many of the surviving artefacts from ancient Rome and Greece are no longer intact. Sculpted images, for example, are missing limbs or facial features. These losses reflect their personal history. They are also an intrinsic part of their beauty and continuing appeal.