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I admire its ambiguity, but could you elaborate upon the title 'Speculation'? I hadn't considered a title for this exhibition when I came across the word 'speculation' in a philosophical text. It immediately occurred to me as the right choice. I often experience a similar immediacy with titles for individual artworks. When a title occurs without deliberation it almost feels as if the artwork has named itself. As you began working on this exhibition, were there any forays into your imagination, which led you down a certain path? I had a couple of visions when I began this project. One was of a very large empty rectangle with two red ravens flying in unison in the top right corner. I tried but failed to materialise this. The other was of a white octahedron sculpture split open so that two adjoining faces lay flat on the horizontal plane. Its interior was gilded and out flew countless red ravens. This second vision was a point of departure rather than a piece I hoped to make. What is the significance of copper as a material of choice within the exhibition? I love the intensity of copper and its rose-like hue. It works wonderfully with the bright red I've been using. Symbolically copper is associated with Venus. Some people see violence in the colour red, but would you say that there's nothing but romance in its presence? I see red as the colour of passion. I'm far more interested in romance than violence, yet it's difficult to look at red without being reminded of blood. It's a blinding colour to work with. The octahedron is an idealised shape, but can a work of art ever be perfect in your eyes? No, not perfect. A work of art can be complete, and that's surely good enough. You are rather an enigma, but has there ever been an artist, which you would have liked to be compared to? There are many artists with whom I'd feel flattered to be compared, yet none spring to mind. Alexander McQueen referred to you as 'the bird-man', do you allude to your fascination with birds in this collection of work? I love birds. It was my maternal grandfather who taught me many of their names. I've considered using wrens, swans and herons in the past, yet a crow or raven usually serves my purpose. In this collection there are two geometric constellations, The Bird, and The Fan, both of which I now see as birds. One swoops, the other soars. Have you encountered distinct phases of development as an artist? Yes. I gave up figurative oil painting in my early twenties after a trip to New York, and began working with encaustic on glass. Then in my mid twenties George Melly lent me his copy of Nadja by Andre Breton. I was very impressed by this novel and began flirting with Surrealism. Towards the end of this phase I used a cube to describe a six-fold colour spectrum. I've been obsessed with three dimensional geometry ever since. You've experimented with relief work and photography, amongst other mediums, but would you consider your geometric compositions the most poignant thus far? Speculations on Speculation: Flora Alexandra Ogilvy Questions & Piers Jackson Answers