Lincolnshire artist uses own kidney stones to make Stonehenge sculpture

A Lincolnshire artist has raised eyebrows with his quirky submission to a charity exhibition: a recreation of Stonehenge using the kidney stones he had removed from his body by NHS staff.

Simon Le Boggit is a Louth-born multimedia artist in his early 60s, who has been an artist for much of his life around the county, including a decade-long spell living in Lincoln and eventually the countryside.

After developing kidney stones, Simon was brought into hospital for ultrasound shockwave treatment to break up and remove the stones from his body – something he called “sobering”.

He explains that his “mind would wander during those sessions”, which were separated by several weeks at a time, which gave him time to think about what he would do to mark this experience.

“I suppose initially I thought it might be a bit of a laugh to do something with my harvested kidney stones”, Simon told The Lincolnite. “My wife recalls me joking about it – but I had no idea what I might do with them.

“Then as the months of treatment slid by, I gradually found myself in a much more sombre mood.”

Simon recalls wanting to bookmark his hospital journey with a “symbolically grand monument”, which brought him to the idea of recreating Stonehenge in miniature form.

He kept his harvested stones wrapped in tissue in a small cardboard box, before eventually modelling them to form the shape of the historic Wiltshire monument and securing them inside a small glass dome.

Simon said his experience reminded him of the daunting reality of how quickly health can turn, and wanted to dedicate his art piece to the NHS staff who helped him through treatment.

“I suppose I felt that I wanted to mark my experiences with some kind of symbolically grand monument – even if it would be physically tiny.

“Emulating Stonehenge seemed to be an obvious choice – aside from being made of stone, it is such a fantastic British icon, echoing the iconic status of NHS staff who have been treated so despicably by successive UK governments.

“All of the NHS staff I encountered were tremendously humane, dedicated and talented – it was their team effort which gradually removed my troublesome and potentially dangerous kidney stones, and got me back to ‘normal’.

“It has all been such a powerful reminder of how our good health can teeter on a knife-edge – it’s just that when we’re feeling well, we tend not to notice it.”

It will form part of a touring exhibition called Humanity, featuring the work of 80 artists and exploring the theme of what it means to be a human being.

The national open exhibition has been organised by arts charity Outside In, which promotes the work of artists who are overlooked due to health and disability factors.

Marc Steene, the founder of Outside In, said of the art: “Simon Le Boggit’s Kidney Stonehenge speaks with humour of the fragility of the human body, and is a testament to the support he received from the National Health Service.

“It epitomises what it is to be human, both the fragility of our bodies and the humanity and kindness shown to him during his treatment.

“The learning and insight into the human condition that this exhibition provides is profound, all the more so for coming from artists not often given centre stage.

“It illustrates the incredible creativity and wisdom that is on offer if we look beyond the boundaries of convention.”

Despite the existential and moving nature of the theme behind the piece, Simon says he has been enthused by the positive reactions to his art so far by the public.

He added: “People’s reactions tend to be a mixture of astonishment, fascination and incredulity – but above all they can’t seem to resist chuckling!”

The exhibition runs until January 27 at Sotheby’s London before it goes elsewhere to Glasgow and Brighton later on in 2023.

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