like this.) I am more

I am more like this.)

Neon text piece ‘I am more like this.)’ toured to Doncaster Minster, St Mark’s Church, Broomhill and Broomhall, Sheffield, Sheffield Cathedral and Coventry Cathedral as part of ‘Reimagining Paul’, an exhibition of two commissioned artworks accompanying an academic research project into biblical and contemporary masculinities and self-presentation by Grace Emmett at Sheffield University.

I was invited to respond to selected passages of apostle Paul’s letters that resist ancient and modern expectations regarding masculinity and gender, with Paul alluding to his body as being marked, disabled, enslaved and maternal.

Choosing neon as my material for darkened church spaces, I collaged the ending of one sentence from Paul’s letters (2 Corinthians 11:23 NIV) with the following line, so that the composite text can be read in subtly different ways as the neon flashes: ‘like this I am more’ and ‘I am more like this’. The piece is a statement about identity and appearance, referencing both the inner freedom to determine who we are, and our struggles to fit in, and belong to wider society. I thought the lemon and lilac colours would compliment the feel of the words.

‘Reimagining Paul’ a touring exhibition, 2023.

Funded by the Sir Henry Stephenson Endowment Trust, part of the University of Sheffield

Installation view, St Mark’s, Sheffield 2023