Statement (ongoing...)
For me, carving stone is a deeply fundamental, visceral experience. The timeless nature of the material juxtaposes and contextualises the fleeting nature of our personal existence, while at the same time, the reductive nature of the process, the irreversibility, reflects it. Each hand carved piece stands as testament to both our abilities and fallibilities.
Each sculpture I create has a concept behind it; although it could be stated that the very act of investing the time and skill demanded of reinterpreting an ephemeral icon in a medium with the artistic provenance of marble and the dialogue this opens about our value systems, could be seen as context enough, there is more to each piece than that alone.
Some thoughts about each sculpture:
Xbox Original console and controller - ‘Altar Stone’, the definition of which, ‘a place of exchange, communication, and influence, where the divine and human worlds interact, a designated place where a person consecrates himself to someone or something’, this piece represents how entertainment and popular culture have become the new belief systems.
The Hammer, Spanner and Water Bottle were created independently as example of man’s influence - ‘Holocene - The Age of Man’. Although created independently they work well together as examples of the light and shade of man’s influence on our planet.
The Coffee Cup, Coke Can, Water Bottle, Fag Packet, Burger Bag, Crisp Packet are ongoing themes that I re-visit. Currently I have created a Coffee Cup and Coke Can 1.6 times life-size - ‘Through a Child’s Eye’. This ratio equates to the adult world as seen through the eyes of a four year old child, representing how our world is seen to those who shall inherit it.
The Lego Brick - ‘Like No Other’ investigates the idea of uniqueness and and individuality amongst many. Apparently there are approximately 440 billion lego pieces in existence, so that’s approx 440 billion and one, now.
Balloon and Pin - ‘The Delicate Nature of Being’. This sculpture is simple metaphor, reminding us how fragile the world we create around us can be, and that, as with ego, it becomes more vulnerable the more it is inflated.
The Gun and T-shirt were carved from two halves of a large Carrara marble slab acquired from a monumental mason’s yard, that had originally been intended for use as a memorial, and represent the two ideologies behind the implementation and maintenance of peace.
Peacemaker The Gun - as a child I couldn’t understand why a gun, the Colt 45, nicknamed the ‘Peacemaker’, could be such a thing, until I eventually realised that it represented the idea that peace is maintained through the threat of force, an ideology that has evolved to the mid-20th century MAD (mutually assured destruction) of nuclear proliferation.
Peacemaker The T-shirt - this piece represents the opposing, or accompanying, idea that peace is established and maintained by awareness, dialogue and peaceful protest.
to be continued...