The Observer Building is an old printworks in the centre of Hastings. It is now being renovated by a 'locally-rooted social enterprise developer' White Rock Neighbourhood Ventures Ltd, to create rent-capped homes, work and community space.

In summer 2020, I was invited by WRNV to explore and make an artistic response to some floor tiles located in the basement of the cavernous building. 

The building was about to become a restricted building site, so I created a memory of the tiled areas by making several rubbings with crayon onto canvas and paper. These rubbings will form the basis of a series of paintings, drawings and hangings.

In summer 2021, I finished a large painting based on one of the large canvas frottages and named it after Henry Ward, the Hastings architect who designed the original building.

Click on images below to enlarge

Henry Ward Observed 2021

Exhibited at Open Studios COASTAL CURRENTS September 2021 & at The Observer Building 2022-23 (see below)

Acrylic paint & crayon on canvas, 179cm x 92cm

In 2022 I applied the tiling's gridlike pattern to digital maps I created in response to controversial international news centred around the notion of borders.

In "Borders Observed" the grid announces the news in a series that map: the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Borders Observed: Ukraine); the potential reversal of the law on abortion rights in many US states (Borders Observed: Roe v Wade); and the UK's new immigration policy of sending refugees to Rwanda (Borders Observed: Rwanda).

Exhibited at The Observer Building 2022-23 

Giclee prints, 840mm x 594mm