Slate | Spirit
Spirit is a sculpture that centres on continuity and balance. Constructed in black slate, it takes the form of a torus: a continuous loop with no beginning and no end. The form has long been associated with the circulation of energy and with ideas of connection, symbolically linking the physical and the spiritual, the material and the unseen.
I first created Spirit around 2010 at Auchindoune House in the Scottish Highlands. Working on site, I shaped and stacked more than a thousand individual pieces of slate, each formed by hand using a hammer. The slate was chosen for its depth of colour and its ability to hold a strong presence against the sky. The process was slow and physically demanding, requiring care and consistency so that the curve of the form could be carried accurately through the structure.
The sculpture was set on a whinstone boulder already present within the landscape, carefully moved into position so that the work remained connected to its surroundings rather than introduced as a foreign object.
The torus is a form that appears repeatedly across disciplines and cultures. Astronomers observe it in the gases that surround black holes; mathematicians and philosophers recognise it as a symbol of continuity and unity. I think many people feel an instinctive connection to forms like this without necessarily being able to explain why. I often say very little about the meaning of the work, preferring to allow others the space to see what they see and draw their own conclusions.
Today, Spirit exists in several locations. One installation in East Lothian sits on a six tonne Argyll slate boulder; others are installed on bespoke plinths in the south of France, each measuring approximately 1.35 metres in diameter. Although constructed in my Scottish workshop, these sculptures travel internationally, finding a natural place within private estates, gardens and landscapes across the UK, Europe and beyond.
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