“Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity”
The Field of Waterloo 1775-1851 - JMW Turner
“At 10 years old I travelled to my birth place Jakarta, Indonesia with my parents during the 1995 Gulf War. Ever since I can remember conflict has always been the norm. Only now can we start to measure how such conflicts effect the psyche. Related or not I began to embrace the hard and ugly along with the escapist side of British culture. Addictive behaviours and inner conflict created exterior ones. Instead of hiding from these experiences I reveled in them, embracing my fighting spirit.
Through this process and over time I began to have insights on human behavior. Empathy and compassion replaced my fears and insecurities. I began to pay attention to the world with new eyes, seeing the contrast from alternative perspectives.”
“Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you”
Light tunnel - metal, water, light source and film 2001
Daniel Theo Woodford graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee in 2002 graduating in Interior and Environmental Design where he developed his appreciation of space from a philosophical perspective. The interior and exterior space we inhabit and the objects we collect affect us emotionally - “Light and shadow, the natural world and our constructed environments all contribute towards the character of a space and how we interact with them. As well as space, objects can be conduits of meaning, bringing great focus and desirable states of being.”
Over the next decade Daniel became distracted by less creative pursuits, nevertheless this was a period of inner development forcing him to a face his own demons and begin the work of self-transformation. As his destructive behaviours softened his creative focus flourished and in 2011 he was accepted into the Royal College of Art where he began to bridge his intellectual pursuit with his empathy and desire for craftsmanship. Here began a rejuvenated path and great stimulation of the intellect, imagination and craftsmanship.
The title, The Beast Will Out unfolded during conversations with silversmith and RCA tutor Michael Roe. The notion of the beast conjured images of powerful animalistic primal forms and thoughts of man’s worldly desires. This led me to Danti Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, but most notably the work and insight of Roberto Assagioli.
“Man’s spiritual development is a long and arduous journey, an adventure through strange lands full of surprises, difficulties and even dangers. It involves a drastic transmutation of the ‘normal’ elements of the personality, an awakening of potentialities hitherto dormant, a raising of consciousness to new realms, and a functioning along a new inner dimension.”