For Cupola I am making an installation which has the circus performers at the centre of it, all colour, glitz and vibrant characters. They will be set on and aerial rig on three-dimensional sculpted figures with my costumes and handmade masks. Around the walls of the space will be relief sculptures which represent the audience reactions. I have life casted hands clapping, ears listening and animated faces watching the show. I am trying to create a feeling of the relationship between the performers and the audience which can be both distant and intimate. I will make the final audience pieces out of marble look resin to match the other sculptures in the Cartwright hall art gallery.

I use life casting and special effects as a tool for all my work, it is a beautiful craft which captures such personal stories of the individual. I love it that the alginate picks up every tiny detail, the lines and contours on our faces, hands and bodies tell us so much about people’s lives.

This sculptural piece (above) in resin and glass for my ‘Groundbound’ installation with performance piece for the film component (see films). This crouching, naked figure represents the isolation and pain that I went through at the end of my trapeze career.