'Protect' acrylic on wooden board, 30x21cm. Pontone Gallery

I've compulsively photographed interesting museum objects for years, usually drawn to slightly damaged artefacts or broken ornaments but armour has always been a source of huge pleasure, partly because I can't see it without imagining the person encased within. It feels like a beautiful discarded shell, far removed from its original function as a protective layer. Freshly discovered as an aesthetic object, it's a ghostly reminder of the life it once housed. I wanted this exoskeleton to feel tempting and tactile and to superimpose the bodies and lives that are implied by its existence. Perhaps there's something absurdist about this soft flesh being depicted external to a suit of armour. I chose sensual images rather than recognisable figures implying the experience of just one individual. I wanted to play with the contrast of soft flesh and cold, aged steel. There's ambiguity about the protection offered by affectionate hands or that of a rigid, concealing structure.