While searching for a found object to transform, Ned stumbled across a small handmade Lychgate in Scotts, Margate. Traditionally, a Lychgate or resurrection gate is found at the entrance to an English churchyard, marking the threshold between the secular and the sacred. It provided a shelter for coffins and pallbearers before a burial. “Lych” means corpse in Old English,  a passage for both body and spirit. It’s mostly used as an adjective in certain names such as the lych owl, or screech owl, named because its cry was a portent of death.

This work combines the symbolism of the Lychgate with elements of the screech owl, its textured feathers and piercing eyes, poised in the space between worlds. And, perched above, a quiet little pigeon keeps watch.

Exhibited at ‘Pocket Forests’, LIMBO, November 2025.

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