I’m currently between studios, searching for the next workspace to transform. While I can’t offer an in-person studio visit at this time, I can offer this equivalent, designed as a virtual exhibition, ordered By Material. Here, find new and recent artworks painted onto a range of unique, diligently gathered studio materials: bus blinds from Brussels, textile stamps from London, wooden boxes from Paris, marine pulleys from New England. Smaller works can be bought directly online and larger works discussed via phone or email. All of the pieces displayed below are shipped from the UK.

Stamps

Early in my career I began grouping objects; hunting down items at flea markets and antique shops to build collections. I rarely paint one-off pieces, preferring to add to ongoing and clearly grouped sets: stamps, matchboxes, postcards, pulleys, tins, doors... This way, the objects hold a more important place; one is more attuned to their differences and details. Though titled Stamps, this ongoing series is in fact formed of various flat-bottomed wooden objects, from decorator’s tools to decorative corbels. I found the first of them in London in 2023 and have hunted others down ever since. Their titles reference the location they were originally sourced. Each describes sea surface in oil, upon layers of sanded plaster, offering interesting edge-details. These works can be displayed on shelves or mantles, or affixed to the wall with pins or magnets.

Canvases & Boards

Every artwork on this webpage is made from reclaimed, recycled materials – usually of a functional nature. The banner image above features wooden marine pulleys found in the antiques barns of New England, photographed before transformation. The below slideshow carries images from flea markets in France and Belgium, visited this year and last. More recent gathering images can be found on my blog, alongside photographs of the journey.

Pulleys & Codfish Boxes

Tins

Cards

Door

Rudder

Boxes & Vessels

Papers

Three selected prints, available individually or as a set – framed in walnut, printed onto pro-pearl papers | Panthalassa was the super-ocean that surrounded the super-continent Pangaea, until the landmass began to break up around 250 million years ago. As a title for this series of photographs, Panthalassa (from the Greek πᾶν “all” and θάλασσα “sea”) is used to enforce the notion that these are each captures of the same ocean. Our World Ocean. Spanning twelve years (and counting) these photographs have been taken as research (for painting projects), during material gathering trips, and from the artist’s studio. They link to Cass’ The Sea from Here series, and other works exploring climate change and specifically variations in sea-level rise.

Learn more about David Cass’ works in these books. Cass’ largest volume – Where Once the Waters – was created as a place to compile not only images of the exhibition in Venice, but also the artist’s research and creation processes. Rising Horizon and Light on Water were published by The Scottish Gallery to accompany exhibitions of the same names. In recent years David’s work has featured within and upon a variety of publications: in the RSA’s coffee-table book Andiamo; in St Jude’s journal Oscillations; in Field’s issue Twos; upon Claudia Roden’s Med cover; and in Out of the Box, a book celebrating contemporary box-art.

A rare opportunity to purchase work from David’s letter series. In this set, four individuals – born in or near London – are informed of the effects of sea level rise on the River Thames across their lifetimes. They’re part of a larger project addressing hundreds of individuals around the world. The sale of this set will fund new not-for-profit environmental artwork. The buyer will also be given the opportunity to have their own letter typed, included in the price, in consultation with the artist.