Brian Clarke first explored two key motifs from the ‘Ossuary’ series of paintings from 2012, the cross and the skull, in white pencil, watercolour and collaged elements on black card. This series takes inspiration from ossuaries - ancient religious sites in which human bones are stored, often arranged in rows or patterns.

Clarke explains in 2018:

‘At times the cross becomes a symbol of inevitability for me. It’s the unchallengeable absolute without which the other elements in these paintings can’t express themselves. I’m never sure what anything really means in my paintings but the cross certainly stands for the architectural integrity of thinking visually if it stands for anything at all.’