Three Hundred, Still Counting

Human Rights Series, Cast driftwood & faces in Jesmonite, 125 x 75 cm, Artist’s Collection

It is not possible to apply for asylum from outside the United Kingdom. In 2020 the closure of air and truck routes to the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic increased four-fold the numbers of small-boat crossings of the English Channel, one of the world’s most dangerous shipping routes. At least 8,400 people crossed in 2020, 10% of whom were children. The numbers are rapidly increasing in 2021, and have already surpassed 10,000. Since 1999, 300 asylum seekers have died, including 36 children. Made of 300 pieces of cast driftwood and death mask-like faces looking abjectly down, Three Hundred, Still Counting reflects this figure.

The Human Rights Series offers a voice for those treated as less than human, and reflects resurfaced experiences of my earlier career as a young medic working at the Khao-i-Dang refugee camp in Cambodia following Pol Pot’s brutal regime.