Stroud Ossuary

Stroud Ossuary is a seven-storey-tall stained glass artwork, made for a sixteenth-century yeoman’s house in Gloucestershire.

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Stroud Ossuary is a seven-storey-tall stained glass artwork, made for a sixteenth-century yeoman’s house in Gloucestershire.

Beginning with studies on paper, Clarke created full-scale designs, drawing the individual skulls, numbering upwards of 1,000. He later combined these portraits, made from a range of actual human skulls, with collaged photographs. In the final artwork, Clarke divided the shelves with leading and vertically connected the shelves with meandering lead lines. Each skull is etched, stained, and fired with Ben Day dots. Stroud Ossuary was recomposed multiple times before Clarke arrived at the current work, representing his longest-in-the-making architectural stained glass project to date.

Stroud Ossuary was first exhibited suspended from the ceiling at Brian Clarke: A Great Light at Newport Street Gallery, from 9 June 2023 to 7 January 2024.

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