This recent body of work deals with ideas around protection, vulnerability and potential loss. Drawing upon historic religious references in a secular age the work references grave goods, especially those made from clay, as a source of style and expression. They come in many shapes and sizes and performed many functions but ultimately, they existed to help with the transitions from life to death and in many cultures, the transition to the afterlife. Death is something we all have in common. Despite the original functions intended for these objects, involving the rituals of the relevant religions or faiths, perhaps the key purpose of them for those left behind is to help them come to terms with loss. The connection between figurative grave goods and these characters is one where the continuity of history feels key. Here uncertain icons group together to discuss these issues, their role often one of messengers waiting or performing a vigil, existing on the threshold, the portal, in the liminal space where changes occur, offering protection and consolation. Their press moulded hollowness, necessary in most kiln fired clay sculpture, is enclosed by their clay shell, the kabuk, which protects the inner self, the wound, the growing tree, the soft creature, allowing healing and maybe creating deities in a secular age.