My wire and mixed media piece “BLACK LUNG” reflects the harsh realities of the 1984 miners’ strike, with a haunting focus on “Black Lung,” the respiratory disease that plagued so many coal miners.

Central to the work is a wire-formed canary—a symbol of both fragility and warning—its presence a reminder of the early warning system that once protected miners from toxic gases. Yet, here, it speaks to the lives sacrificed and lungs scarred by relentless coal dust.

The wire structure, darkened and textured, conveys the suffocating weight of the mines, while the canary embodies the human cost of labour, resilience, and silent suffering in the shadows.