Ghost/Comb:Everything Caressing

Leo Costelloe

Summary
Final work

Leo Costelloe is a London based, interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the transient and sentimental nature of objects in contemporary culture. Having worked as a florist for the past seven years, Leo's work echoes a romance one can only find in flowers.

Working autobiographically and with a wide range of materials, he looks to nature and the occult for inspiration, treating his creative processes as a ritual and each piece of work as an exploration of his own spiritual identity.

Leo creates sculptural works which exist in the liminal space between jewellery and object, aiming to challenge the viewers perceptions and experiences of materials.

Drawing inspiration from spiritual practices, nature and his own personal experience, this has resulted in a growing body of work that expounds upon the role of contemporary objects in a “throw away” society, whilst simultaneously addressing the sentimentality and mystery of the banal.

Leo Costelloe was born 1993 in Canberra, Australia before relocating to London, United Kingdom where he now lives and works.

Leo Costelloe is a London based, interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the transient and s...

CollegeCentral Saint Martins
CourseBA (Hons) Jewellery Design
Graduation year2021

Leo’s work represents the idea of a comb as an extension of a body. He explores the unconscious desire to provide and receive care. Working with natural materials, Leo creates a surreal narrative that occupies a liminal space between functional and sculptural. The collection embodies an autobiographical approach that centres on materials – glass, shells, his mother’s hair – associated with memorable moments from Leo’s past. These simple objects are instruments in an investigation of the unconscious mind.

Interpretative text by Stanislava Baskova, BA (Hons) Culture, Criticism and Curation