To the ancestors, as vowed, willingly fulfilled

Thirdbase Studio Residency
Lisbon, Portugal
01.05.19 - 28.08.19

Jonathan Michael Ray Artist Cornwall sculpture — ***Not really now, Not anymore****, 2019 limestone and paint 40x20x10cm each*

This body of work, produced during a four-month study residency at Thirdbase Studios in Lisbon, examines the multilayered histories and fictions of artefacts and places. The project focuses on how contemporary society collects and interprets stories and cultures, and how objects and life from our current time might one day join and be interpreted among an ever growing archive of human existence.

During this residency at Thirdbase Studios, I explored Iberian archaeological collections, the flea market stalls of Feira da Ladra, the family mausoleums of Cemiterio do Alto Sao Joao and the historical sites in the regions of Evora and Sintra. In the studio I worked with a number of materials and methods including photography, cyanotype, found object assemblage, concrete casting and engraving in stone.

Pedestrian Scriptures, 2019, cyanotype on paper, aluminium 61.5×46.5cm (x3)

Not really now, Not anymore, 2019 limestone and paint 40x20x10cm each

Now wakes the sea, 2019, various found objects, limestone, glass, steel 60x120x20cm

Within the reach of a grasping hand, 2019, various found objects, limestone, glass, steel, 51.5x120x20cm

The shadow’s shadow, 2019, various found objects, limestone, glass, steel 61x120x20cm

Each figure now a phantom, 2019, various found objects, limestone, glass, steel, 58x120x20cm

Magician’s Hideaway, 2019, inkjet on vinyl, Diabond, wood, fixtures 135x120x5cm

collaboration with Wills Brewer – Behind The Wall Of Sleep, 2019, fired earth, human bone, granite, inkjet on vinyl, aluminium, limestone, steel 135x320x20cm approx

Cave Hymn, 2019, concrete and paint 130x105x2cm