Goat Train was the result of a micro residency commissioned by Alternator studios in Birkenhead called 'translating the street'. Artists were encouraged to work with different businesses in the district of Oxton road and I was invited to work with the model shop- ‘Kit stop models’. As well as working with the host the work is also a reaction to working in the Wirral area generally and one of the things that stuck with me during my stay was the goat painting in the 'Lady Lever art gallery’ in Port Sunlight. It’s a Pre-Raphaelite painting by William Holman Hunt that depicts the original ‘Scapegoat’. According to the bible; the sins of the community are transferred to the goat which is then driven into the wilderness to die taking all of the sins with it. It seemed like an issue that resonated with our current socio-political environment- plus the thought of bringing such a serious and incongruous issue into the world of model trains amused me.
The 'Kit Stop' model shop ...as a model
Goat train.
Studio construction shot. 'The Scapegoat' by William Hollman Hunt.