Magician’s tricks

In these works from thirty years ago, the stage illusion is re-imagined as a modern death ritual. Miniature models of magician’s furniture, gold-leafed and hollow, become sarcophagi for a theatrical afterlife, created for mass consumption. Beside them, large-scale ply ‘drawings’ enveloped in glossy darkness use staged projections of light to echo the assistant’s own visual experience. It is an exploration of the space between the performance of magic and the reality of the vessel.

Two small wooden magician's tricks furniture with gold leaf, placed against a plain white background.
Silhouette of magician's stage furniture on a black background.

‘Sawing through a woman’, 1994-5

20 x 48 x 25cm. Balsa wood, Gold leaf

Four yellow rectangular blocks with square holes in the center, arranged in a row on a white background.

‘Sawing through a woman’ w, 1994-5

120 x 180 x 1cm. Marine ply, Gloss paint, Brass plates

Digital clock display showing 00:00 with a black background and white numbers.

‘Mismade girl’, 1994-5

6 x 30 x 8cm. Balsa wood, Gold leaf

A gold-colored metal desktop organizer with compartments on a white surface.

‘Mismade girl’ w, 1994-5

120 x 180 x 1cm. Marine ply, Gloss paint, Brass plates

‘Vanishing lady’, 1994-5

18 x 18 x 24cm. Balsa wood, Gold leaf

A black and white drawing of a rectangular display case with an open front, showing a shelf inside, set against a dark background.

‘Vanishing lady’ w, 1994-5

120 x 140 x 1cm. Marine ply, Gloss paint, Brass plates