Locust Jones Self-report

My sculptures of skulls, heads and body parts are a metamorphosis of my self-portrait drawings. The machete and axe-wielding marks, the gritty black texture of the clay and the primitive forms are ruminations of things in my immediate environment. The work is a self-report on my mental state, on current news stories of boat people, immigration, genocide, terrorism and history. Contemporary savagery is anchored via the gritty clay and primitive forms within vast histories of human violence. The burnt figures are heaved out of the earth, evoking imagery of mass graves, holocausts and burial sites and connecting contemporary events with ancient histories.

- Locust Jones, 2016