I am fascinated by how different cultures invent themselves and select their symbols of nationhood. For example, Great Britain is represented everywhere: on stamps, coins and portraits, by an image of the Queen's head. In China today, new symbols are being created and tested, such as the "Bird's Nest" stadium. I sometimes feel that I am in the business of producing Mongrel Art: an art which is impure, being neither from one place or another, but being an invented culture of its own.

When I was a teenager I planned to become a historian, but I ended up an artist. It is only natural that my work should have a historical slant and references. My work is not simply or mainly a political statement or an illustration of postcolonial ideas. It is about what I am interested in aesthetically and historically. It is not primarily didactic; art is emotional, intuitive and mysterious. I am trying to get at something elusive, possibly unobtainable.

I make a lot of work about invented Heraldry. Salman Rushdie said that he has all these first editions worth thousands of pounds, but the most valuable book he has is his British passport. So I started making images based on the Queen's coat of arms, as embossed on the front of every British passport. I am interested in how the possession of a symbolic object such as this, or the search to obtain one, shapes one's life.

Recently I have been drawn to images, contemporary, historical and mythological, of people carrying weights. We evolved as a race of nomads, carrying our lives with us, and today we do this in a physiological and metaphorical way. The figure of the giant - his position in myth and how this is translated into contemporary culture (The Incredible Hulk or The Thing) is also intriguing. These figures are to be found in cultures all over the world: Atlas, St. Christopher, the Cerne Abbas Giant, Pan-Gu. 

In my piece a Giant carries a burden of fear. He is just about strong enough to manage his load, but there is a chance that it could weigh him down completely.

In the world today we seem to be overwhelmed by fear. The fear ranges from the domestic to the global. For some of us, this fear is tangible: "Can I feed my family today?" or "How can I pay my rent?". For others it may be more abstract. It makes me wonder whether fear is simply part of the human condition – an evolutionary trait.

The piece takes inspiration from old, faded, frayed tapestries, banners and flags. It is made from cord and plastic beads glued and stapled directly onto the wall. The image is frayed and broken as if thoroughly aged. The beads hang down loosely, threads of glue cobweb over the surface. Although threadbare and worn, it still has power. It is a contemporary Relic.