'hymn swears you know'
comes from a half-remembered moment of sitting in a church at primary school, staring at the hymn board and waiting for something to happen.
in this version, the format remains the same, but the language has been updated. the numbered hymns are replaced with interchangeable swear words—arguably more familiar, and slightly more honest.
made using mixed media with the addition of drawings on 300gsm paper, the work continues my  ‘f series’. each word is hand-drawn and can be swapped in and out, allowing for different combinations depending on mood, tolerance, or level of restraint.
at the base, a small box holds the spare words, loosely referencing church collection boxes—though in this case, it’s less about giving something up and more about choosing what to put in.
swearing is often described as the use of words or phrases considered inappropriate in certain situations—but which the speaker, at the time, finds entirely appropriate for emphasis.
i’m not a huge fan of people swearing every couple of seconds. that said, the occasional swear word isn’t such a bad thing. some people and situations simply don’t lend themselves to polite language.
swear words, like any others in the english language, have a kind of magic to them. they can be surprisingly effective—useful for emphasis, clarity, or just getting a point across when nothing else quite works. of course, it depends on the word, the moment, and the intention behind it.
very little in the world is entirely good or entirely bad (and yes, that “very little” is doing some heavy lifting). swearing is no exception.
it’s often claimed that swearing is linked to creativity—that it lives somewhere in the right side of the brain, in that so-called “creative” half.
which is, in fact, almost complete bollocks.
here, i experiment with different approaches. if they don’t work… well, i’ll just fucking try something else.