At first glance, the familiar geometry of the Union Jack anchors this piece in place and politics. But that stability is quickly disrupted — invaded by stencilled word-pairs that demand closer inspection. _HEAR & LISTEN_, _LEARN & KNOW_, _TOUCH & FEEL_: these aren’t just senses, they’re tensions — subtle shifts in meaning that reveal how language mediates experience.

Each word is carefully chosen, drawn from Steit's broader _senses project_, which explores dualities like _chaos/control_, _organic/industrial_, and _isolation/connection_. Here, the focus is on sensory perception — but also on how culture frames that perception. The British flag becomes not just a backdrop, but a statement: a shared identity composed of incomplete understandings.

The use of spray paint and graffiti stencils nods to rebellion and immediacy — public, unfiltered expressions layered over sanctioned symbols. Paint splatters in gold, red, and blue further unsettle the image, as if the piece is in motion or mid-transformation.

  
Ultimately, _Sense the Union Jack_ doesn’t offer answers — it interrupts. It unsettles the inherited certainties of empire: the prescribed ways of seeing, hearing, and knowing that once underpinned colonial rule. By urging viewers to look again, to listen more deeply, to smell, taste, touch, and learn beyond surface understanding, the work resists the tidy narratives imposed by imperial history. In a world still shaped by those legacies — fractured, plural, and contested — perhaps sensing is the most honest, embodied form of connection we have left.

Senses the Union Jack 

A special in the Virtual Journey series, 28 years after my first visit to Istanbul I made the same walk and took about 900 pictures. On 12 locations I took the same picture in 1996\. The result is a multi layered image of both photo's showing the ghost of Istanbul past seeping into today.

  
There are 12 images in this series. 

See all of them at https://steit.net/virtual-journeys/istanbul-revisit/

IST28Y

The _Virtual Journeys_ series is a continuously growing collection of **visual travel stories** where travel meets art and offers a unique glimpse into everyday life across several world capitals. Designed as graphic-novel-style narratives, each page stands alone as a **mini story**, while collectively, they form a larger, immersive tale of urban exploration.

  
**London 14 Dragons**

The City of London, roughly the size of a square mile, is historically protected by 14 cast-iron dragon statues that mark its entry points, guarding the roads against invaders. These dragons—placed on plinths—demarcate the boundary of the City of London, a location with roots tracing back to the Roman settlement of the 1st century AD, extending through the Middle Ages. Though the ancient walls are long gone, this inner city remains a distinct entity within London, an area rich in history and still symbolically guarded by these City of London dragon statues.

  
There are 50 pages in this story.

London 14 Dragons

The _Virtual Journeys_ series is a continuously growing collection of **visual travel stories** where travel meets art and offers a unique glimpse into everyday life across several world capitals. Designed as graphic-novel-style narratives, each page stands alone as a **mini story**, while collectively, they form a larger, immersive tale of urban exploration.

  
**Rome 7 Hills**

We invite explore all seven of the hills that encircle the ancient city centre. From Palatine, where Romulus is said to have founded Rome, to the Aventine. Experience the rhythms of modern Roman life, where echoes of the old city mingle with today .

  
There are 51 pages in this series.

Rome 7 Hills

 The Mythology Series reflects on global mythologies, legends and folklore. The usage of the primary and secondary colours is linked to the stories the individual pieces are related to. These images are 30×30 cm canvas on board painted in primary and secondary colours. The motif is ton-sur-ton and depicts an abstraction a reference or feeling connected to the subject. The sense is 3D printed in white PLA and mounted on the canvas. Explore mythology in contemporary art form.

The works let the viewer experience stories that have a different cultural origins with similar meanings. Or stories that use the same metaphors but have different meanings. 

Senses Mythologies

The gradient series is a body of work of 36 images in total that use bold colours, attention grabbing gradient and gold rendered text to grab the attention of the viewer. It represents the struggle for attention we see across all media today. Once the viewer is focussed they see the text that invites them to pause, take distance and reflect. 

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