Pike’s passion is about how synaesthesia might provoke a mesmerizing state that could help survive beneath the earth. These bizarre labyrinths, just like a good tango or opera (both Baroque art forms), each have unexpected, yet pleasurable, twists and turns.
CHANTING GROTTO
Mystical evacuees congregate under auspicious crystalline ceilings to join in harmonious polyphony.

Above: metallic gouache on paper, 2.4 m x 5.5 m (8 x 18 ft), 2023. Below: detail 1.2 x 1.5 m

photographer: Tracy Peters
trysting crypt
A secret rendezvous grotto encourages evacuees to indulge in endless delicious pecks on cheeks.

gouache on paper, 2.4 m x 5.5 m (8 x 18 ft), 2021

photographer: Tracy Peters
Sunken Séance Meeting Hall
Spookologist evacuees discover an ancient hideaway for gathering departed spirits.


Gazing Pond Chamber
Whispered stories beside the reflecting pool will help evacuees enjoy their High Tea.


Cavernous Sun Parlour
Therapeutic moisture oozes up the walls and around knit statuary to nourish evacuees during above-ground catastrophe.


Buried Dance Pavilion
A spectacular performing room imagines pleasure-filled evacuees in full swirl.


Subterranean Day Spa
Mineral-rich spring water pool provides evacuees with contemplative time for hygiene.


Entrance to an Underground Riding Academy
Extensive stables enable evacuees to commute between the sauna and the greenhouse.


photographer: Tracy Peters, Robert Barrow
Grottesque at the Dunlop Art Gallery in 2018 (toured Canada)
https://www.facebook.com/dunlopartgallery/videos/1772887172742819/