Damascus Rose, the title of the show, comes from a red-veined, corporeal and exquisite marble quarried in Syria. It references the biblical story of the Road to Damascus; the miracle of the enlightenment of St Paul who was blind and had vision restored. At the time of the exhibition the war in Syria continued, and the horror of human displacement and forced migration across oceans.

The central work in the show was Red Erratic, a large block of Damascus Rose marble sliced from the earth. Appearing like a geological erratic composed of layers of compressed time and evidence of life over millennia. On the top several feet were exquisitely carved. They piled on top of each other in one corner; the block dropping steeply on all sides. The feet perilously positioned in an attempt to regain foothold, appear like a mixture between fossil and flesh. Red Erratic is not about heroic statuary, more an excavation or petrification of feet formed within the geology. 

Just weeks before the exhibition, it was discovered that the gallery floor could not bear the 7.5 tonne weight of the work. On the opening night a flat-bed truck parked directly outside the building and the work was seen on the street through open doors. Subsequently the work was stored and then found a provisional home in Tremeneere Sculpture Park in Cornwall. 

Red Road is a floor of shining red paving stones with feet carved as if walking on a pathway. The original idea was that the road would run from the erratic as if sliced from the same bedrock. The marble of Red Road is highly polished – apparently in Greek and Roman times it was believed that a high polish reflected the ‘Light of God’.

Daunt: A large tapestry hung on the far wall of the gallery. The image is from a photograph taken in the 1930’s by Fergus Cross. The name Daunt painted on the side of the ship is the name of the reef below the surface. The Daunt lightship was moored off the south coast of Ireland. Lightships were moored to underwater reefs to warn passing ships of hidden dangers. The presence of this work in the show indicates the dangers of ocean crossing. The tapestry appeared out of focus close up and in focus from a distance, reflecting on the surface of the polished marble road.