Oil and cold wax on gesso board; (20cmx60cm)
There is an accompanying video 'DESTRUCTION: Missile graveyard'

‘DESTRUCTION: Missile graveyard’ is the second artwork based on the theme of armed conflict. In the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, a ‘missile graveyard’ contains more than a thousand rockets and artillery shells that have inflicted colossal damage to the city and its inhabitants since the Russian invasion.

Aerial footage clearly shows mounting ‘graves’ of artillery debris in Ukraine’s second-largest city, a city that has been under continual bombardment.

The rockets have been collected since the first attacks, and after some time officials decided to organize them by type and retain as evidence that an international criminal court could use to establish that war crimes had been committed.

‘DESTRUCTION: Missile graveyard’ is my interpretation of the aerial imagery that I had seen online and in news coverage. The outlines of guns and a rifle evolved, initially by accident. As I worked on the larger shapes of the war-torn landscape, outlines of what resembled guns appeared. I opted to bring their outlines into sharp focus and this then became a central part of the work.

The choice of a hinged triptych is a deliberately ironic one, given the association with religious iconography. More Old Testament, than New.