I dissect a small section of religion through my work. My practice is highly concerned with the intersection between materiality, repetition, and religiosity.

Exploring the physical practices such as Prayer as acts of not only repetition but intense moments of intention. My inquiry has broadened beyond religious studies to encompass the discourse of surveillance.

This expansion was motivated by an interest in the psychological dimensions of paranoia associated with being under constant observation.

My reading includes Shoshanna Zuboff’s The Age Of Surveillance Capitalism (2019) and Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punishment (1975).

My process began to abstract beyond simply replication but a dissection of ideas, images, and ideologies, questioning iconography and challenging its position within art. This has included questioning the paranoia associated with an Omniscience force.

Through my pursuit of context, Philosopher Alain De Botton became a key influence in my exploration of the growing force of secularisation; his writings on the socio-cultural significance of God have rooted my practice in contemporary discourse of religion. De Botton poses: What can religions teach us and provoke us with today?

Website: ameliarbird.wixsite.com

Instagram: @ameliabirdart