After initially training as a studio artist he completed his doctorate in Art History and Theory at the University of Essex (England) in 1995. He has published a number of articles and book reviews on 19th and 20th century art and literary culture. His current academic interests include: maritime art; drawing theory and history; art and the post-modern sublime; postcolonial issues; issues of style in art and archaeology; and the impact of censorship on art and pornography. His first book Visual Words: Art and the Material Book in Victorian England was published in April of 2002. His studio art interests are in traditional and inter-media/time-based work, including video, duratrans images, performance art and a long-term project called the Fragmentary Museum.