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The Initial Conditions is a sculptural piece constructed specifically for the Upper Gallery. The precarious structure made from salvaged scrap timbers and found objects emanating from a school easel. It visually references the Big Bang an energetic and theoretical event that resulted in a rapidly expanding universe. The work gives a hopeful nod to the political ambition and optimism enshrined in Tatlin’s Tower,
A Series of 24 drawing chronicling monthly views north and south of the night sky as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. The drawings are made from an astronomy almanac, in an attempt to learn the night sky through the active of repetitive drawing.
A sculpture made from discarded objects exploring our filtered and partial view of the universe.
Stars are the ultimate recycling plants and the crucibles for all known matter. The lighter chemical elements are formed as a result of the extreme pressures and temperatures in stellar cores. When a star goes supernova (violently explodes) even more energy is released creating the conditions for the formation of the heavier elements, which are then thrust out into the universe by the force of the explosion, seeding the next generation of stars and planets with building matter. All matter and life on earth is a result of this process stellar recycling. Karl Sagan once famously said we are all made of star dust. Making stars from recycled old clothing, that might otherwise end up in landfill, reminds us of our dependence on this sustainable cycle
These drawings alphabetically chronicle terms relating to light pollution collated and coined by DarkSky International. DarkSky International is a nonprofit organisation who ‘restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution throughoutreach, advocacy and conservation.
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we lose sight of the night We Lose Sight of the Night is the first in a series of exhibitions, comissioned by the MAC, which address climate and environmental change. This major survey exhibition across all three of the MAC galleries brings together new commissioned works and reworked older pieces made over the last two decades. An interest in the wonders and political importance of the night sky characterises much of this exhibition, where stars are celebrated as the ultimate recycling plants and where our right to the nighttime environment is highlighted and explored. Using both traditional means such as drawing and animations as well as a range of absurd sculptural devices, I explore the celestial as an ecologically active agent in urgent need of protection and preservation from the ravages of aggressive short term economic opportunism. Projects have investigated ideas around entropy, order, disorder and balance exploring how laypersons try to understand scientific and mathematical ideas in political terms. For billions of years, all life has relied on Earth’s predictable rhythm of day and night. It’s encoded in the DNA of all plants and animals. Humans have radically disrupted this cycle by lighting up the night. Plants and animals depend on Earth’s daily cycle of light and dark to govern life-sustaining behaviours such as reproduction, nourishment, sleep, and protection from predators. Scientific evidence suggests that artificial light at night has negative and deadly effects on many creatures, including amphibians, birds, mammals, insects, and plants. We Lose Sight of the Night invites us to examine the night sky, the impacts of light pollution and the importance of darkness and our relentless use of materials, the detritus of a consumer society critiquing the unsustainable production of yet more stuff.
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The initial Conditions, 2025, photo Simon Mills
The initial Conditions, 2025, photo Simon Mills
Secondhand Nightscapes, Installation Shot, v2023 - 2025, photo Simon Mills 
Secondhand Nightscapes, detail, 2023 - 2025, photo Simon Mills
Sifted View, Sieve frame, blank lenses, clips, 50 cm x 20 cm x 30 cm. 2025, The Bortle Scale,
Sifted View, Sieve frame, blank lenses, clips, 50 cm x 20 cm x 30 cm. 2025, photo 
We Lose Sight of the Night at Our Peril, projected animation, 2025 and Stars, The ultimate Recycling Factories, Upcycled discarded clothing, dimensions vary, approx.120 cm x 120 cm each, 2024- 2025 photos Simon Mills
We Lose Sight of the Night at Our Peril and Stars, The ultimate Recycling Factories, detail 
Planisphere, Sheet glass, lazy susan mechanism, paint, 180 cm x 180cm x 80 cm, 2024 and Shockwave, Plywood and casters, 1m x 1.5m, 2023, photo Simon Mills
Planisphere, detail, photo Simon Mills
Starscape (reworked) animation, 2 min 13 sec, 2013 -2025 & Lunar Table, painted glass disks, lazy susan mechanism and trestle stands, 2025, photo Simon Mills
Dark Skies Glossary, drawings, ink on A5 cartridge, 2023, photo Simon Mills
The initial Conditions, 2025, detail. photo Simon Mills 
The initial Conditions, 2025, detail. photo Simon Mills
The initial Conditions, 2025, detail. photo Simon Mills
The initial Conditions, 2025, detail. photo Simon Mills
The initial Conditions, 2025, detail. photo Simon Mills
The initial Conditions, 2025, detail. photo Simon Mills
The initial Conditions, 2025, detail. photo Simon Mills
The initial Conditions, 2025, detail. photo Simon Mills
The initial Conditions, 2025, detail. photo Simon Mills 
Stars, The ultimate Recycling Factories, detail 
Shockwave, Plywood and casters, 1m x 1.5m x 40cm , 2023, photo Simon Mills
Shockwave, Plywood and casters, 1m x 1.5m x 40cm , 2023, photo Gorgeous Photography
Dark Mattek (spelling glich matter), Velvet, nails and fishing line on board, 26 cm x 39 cm, 2018, photo Simon Mills
Planisphere, detail, photo Simon Mills
Planisphere, detail, photo Simon Mills
Detail of Lunar Table, photo Simon Mills
Dark Skies Glossary, drawings, ink on A5 cartridge, 2023, photo Simon Mills