John Cage — There is no such thing as silence
// About

THE
STORY.

Flood-damaged photograph

Palimpsest

Palimpsest began with an accident.
A burst pipe flooded boxes of family photographs, letters and personal ephemera stored in my home. As I carefully peeled the photographs apart to dry them, their emulsions had transferred onto one another, creating unexpected layers, textures and chance compositions. Rather than seeing loss, I saw a new visual language. The damaged photographs became the foundation of Palimpsest.

That moment changed the direction of my practice.
Scanning the images into the computer, I began layering, animating and eventually allowing sound to influence how they behaved. What started as an accidental collision of memory and material evolved into iCoda — a browser-based creative system where images are continually remixed, transformed and captured through chance.

THE
EARLY YEARS.

1989 - 1992
BA Fine Art
Sunderland University. My interest in digital image-making began after discovering an unused Spaceward Matisse computer in the graphics department, feeding video signals into it and capturing images with early paint software. Inspired by Peter Greenaway's Prospero's Books and its use of the Quantel Paintbox, I became fascinated by the collision of film, technology, and visual experimentation.
1999 - 2007
Palimpsest
A burst pipe destroyed boxes of old photographs, letters and ephemera. As I peeled apart the water-damaged photographs, images transferred onto one another, creating unexpected textures and chance juxtapositions. I scanned and layered them digitally, producing a slideshow film for Inspire Northumberland — and began to imagine images that could respond to their environment.
2006
PgDip Film & Television
Sunderland University. Studying Film and Television introduced me to digital moving-image production and Adobe After Effects. During the course I was commissioned by Bradford Council to produce MEME, a documentary exploring the Five Cities of Yorkshire, premiered on the Millennium Square Big Screen as part of the Illuminate Festival.
2009
Digital Fellowship, Teesside
Awarded a Digital Fellowship, I produced the first version of what would become iCoda — then called simply Coda. Built using C++ and the audio programming language ChucK, the desktop prototype featured a sparse interface and an experimental visual mixer, exploring how sound could influence images in real time.
2010
Thinking Digital Conference
I showcased the desktop version of Coda at Thinking Digital at The Sage, Gateshead. Based in the Cyber Café alongside other experimental projects, the prototype received enthusiastic feedback. New features included waveform displays, screen capture, and expanded visual behaviours — the ability to capture chance visual states opened a new avenue for creating digital artworks.
2012
Palimpsest iOS
Inspired by the accidental image transfers from my flood-damaged photographs, I developed Palimpsest for iOS — combining these layered images with the visual processes developed in Coda. I commissioned a student developer to build the first mobile version, marking the beginning of iCoda's transition from desktop experiment to portable creative tool.
BA Fine Art
Palimpsest
PgDip Film & Television
Digital Fellowship, Teesside
Thinking Digital Conference
Palimpsest iOS
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THE
iCODA YEARS.

iCoda Preloads — iOS Mobile
iCoda Creator — Android
iCoda Creator — iOS
Creative Fuse — 1st Grant
Creative Fuse — 2nd Grant
iCoda Suite
2013
iCoda Preloads — iOS Mobile
Released four Artists as preload applications — image content was locked, but you could use the microphone or play the track to activate the imagery onscreen. Featuring Dream Of Dead Cats (San Francisco), Elisha Sarti (New York collage artist), David Carson (LA graphic design legend) and New Electric Ride (Sunderland/London). Users could play the iCoda and save screengrabs, creating unique limited edition imagery.
2014
iCoda Creator — Android
Released an Android version written in Unity, using any track and images from the Camera Roll, with a filter to blur image edges. Commissioned by Derby Museum and Gallery for the GLEAM Festival — I digitised some of their archives, fed them into iCoda, and projected the images onto the building opposite, with the sound of the streets at night activating the imagery.
2016
iCoda Creator — iOS
Released the iOS version, originally written in Unity then rebuilt in Xcode — a protracted 16-month development, very close to the Desktop version. I asked local and unsigned bands to contribute to the audio library. This version also introduced a Create function — add a track and your images, build an individual iCoda, and post it to an online group within the app.
2018
Creative Fuse — 1st Grant
Awarded a Creative Fuse Innovation Grant to develop iCoda Health for paediatric and dementia patients, researching alongside healthcare professionals to develop an MVP to trial in 10 care homes and Sunderland Royal Hospital. I called this version iCodagraph — people could add their images with voice recognition, so dementia patients could recall a set of images related to the request.
2019
Creative Fuse — 2nd Grant
Hospital residency at the RVI Hospital, Newcastle. I commissioned a local tech company to build a web browser version, bypassing the two major app platforms — so anyone, at any time, could use the app on any device. Ideal for patients, mobile and tablets, and proof the concept was useful beyond being an art tool.
2026
iCoda Suite
Drawing on twelve years of development, iCoda evolved into five interconnected platforms — Open, Create, Ambient, Print and Audio. Built entirely for the browser, the system combines sound-responsive imagery, real-time composition and generative processes — opening new possibilities for music, moving image, digital environments and creative play.
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