This work is about the use of light to convey messages.
The Bible suggests that amber was one of the stones used in the Breastplate of the High Priest of the Israelites; this breastplate was also called the Breastplate of Judgement, or the Breastplate of Righteousness.There were 12 stones used in the breastplate, one stone for every one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Instructions for making the breastplate are to be found in the Book of Exodus and it was to be made of ‘cunning work’. The High Priest work the breastplate to convey messages from God to the tribes. He stood near a window and wherever stone was hit by a shaft of light that was the tribe who received a message.
All of the waste materials used in the Breastplate of Detritus are metaphorical. The work suggests the decay and erosion of society through the layering and selection of the materials.There are 5 amber stones and seven pieces of sea glass embedded in the layers. The glass was found on my local beach in Seaham, Co. Durham and is a waste material from the glassworks which were closed in the early part of the twentieth century. The sea has tumbled and rounded the pieces of sea glass.
The Breastplate of Detritus also links to the Book of Revelation in the Bible which describes the Holy City being made of layers, each layer being of a different material and having 12 gates. The city is described as being of ‘pure gold, as clear as glass’.