Fingers stretch through the stone but do not penetrate the surface. These inclusions formed by iron impressions from neighbouring rock, or manganese rich waters seeping in through vulnerable fractures. Dendritic agate takes it’s name from ‘dendron’, or ‘tree’ describing the fern like diorama that emerge in milky glass pools. Kelp forests and glades become visible. A sense of fresh air in a stagnant air-conditioned room. Dendritic agates are often misinterpreted as plant fossils, but despite being vegetal in appearance, are decidedly non living.

The fractal spread of the dendrites is fuelled by a shifting concentration gradient in the stone. This instability in the forming rock encourages growth, clears a path for progression and enhances self confidence. The branching structures create multiple crossroads building protection against neuralgia. Snowflakes, frost on the car window, traffic accidents and capillaries; all reminiscent of the formations. The surface, when polished is reflective with varying opacity, encouraging a deep examination of the self.

Transferring found imagery from printed material to create a new composition, Cliff’s work reflects the proliferation of imagery in the contemporary environment. The process of transferring the image results in an impression which is both delicate and soft, far removed from the crude printed imagery from which it was sourced. This resulting image recalls early photography suggesting the ghostly or obstructed image can hold the allure for us in a saturated world where power of digital imagery is lacking.

Recent works have featured elements of nature in them, flowers and fruit as well as birds and insects. The inclusion of such motifs not only recalls early photography but image making from before then; such as the mural painting of the ancients. By alluding to such image making processes Cliff is perhaps questioning whether depiction still has the capacity to captivate us with the physical world as it once did.
Using an owl as a motif, a motif whose meaning has consistently shifted over the ages, is a direct reference to the instability of meaning in depiction.

To reference further ancient depictions the compositions are frequently framed on shaped forms, this recalls a fragment something incomplete or something ritualised like a logo to further obscuring the origin and meaning of the imagery.