God Was In The House, Kid In A Sweet Shop

2018

Acrylic, oils and mixed media on canvas

1400 x 800 mm

The title of this painting, borrowed from Nick Cave, plays on the relationship between religion, industry and the changing structures of capitalism.

The painting depicts a small, boarded-up church beside the former Rowntree factory in York.

Like Cadbury, Rowntree grew from a Quaker tradition where business, social responsibility and concern for workers were closely connected. The abandoned church becomes a quiet reminder of those values, and a question about what remains when the social and economic structures that once supported a community disappear.