Vanquished Co-founder
2011 | Resin, powder, steel and perspex | 150 x 63 x 35 cm
"As I gaze upon 'Vanquished Cofounder', the fragmented sculpture I created, it feels like staring into a mirror that reflects the most tumultuous chapter of my life. The figure, a clown smoking a joint, is more than just a sculpture; it's a piece of my soul.
This clown, a symbol of irony and jest, embodies the surreal and often absurd world I found myself in as I built and ran a multi-billion pound company, in a world of "loans" I could never truly connect with. The disjointed pieces of the sculpture, scattered and chaotic, are like fragments of my own experiences – broken, yet vivid memories of a life that once was.
Through the lens of anamorphic perspective, this chaos resolves into a coherent image, but only from a certain angle, much like how the clarity of my own situation only came into focus when viewed from the vantage point of hindsight. The act of the clown smoking a joint, to me, represents a defiance, a rebellion against the norms of the corporate world that I could never fully embrace. Each fragment of the sculpture is a remnant of my journey – successes that felt hollow, laughter that never reached my eyes, and a sense of victory that crumbled as quickly as my startup did. 'Vanquished Cofounder' is not just a title; it's a confession, a realization of my own defeat and the liberation that came with it.
This sculpture is my catharsis, a way to express the emotional whirlwind of being lost and found, of building something extraordinary and then watching it collapse. It's a testament to a time in my life where I felt most alive yet utterly lost, a period that forever changed who I am as an artist and as a human being."