The Water’s Edge, ( 2020-2024)

Figure: 40cm x 80cm x 130cm 

Baseboard: 84cm x 122cm

I decided to rework this sculpture from 2020, I always felt there was a good sculpture in there somewhere but couldn’t find it the first time around.

This cardboard sculpture is first and foremost a disability artwork. Made by my own hands embodied with many feelings and struggles of a lifetime in a disabled body yet it doesn’t speak explicitly of disability.  The angles and the shapes that make its form are perfectly imperfect like an open Enso circle, I am a firm believer that imperfection is an inherent part of existence.

My work contains my personal, physical, and artistic imperfections, it’s unique. As my physical ability changes with age, I realised I wouldn’t be able to make this work in the same way ever again. This is what it means to be me, my journey. 

I use cardboard and have a strong belief in simple, cheap, and recycled materials to make art. The work is inspired by Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ with Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl earring’ and even a hint of Gormley’s figures on the beach.

I wanted the sculpture to exist at the water’s edge, with the shifting of the sands, the question I hope people will consider is whether the tide is going in or out? This work does not have a plinth, it’s contained within its own narrative. The female figure sits on an ordinary, although brightly coloured, chair that exists in the real world.  She sits deep in thought, looking beyond the audience to something else more tangible and more important.  She wears a cardboard watch that is fast approaching midnight. The small details within the sculpture are often significant markers for where we should focus our attentions, away from the glaring distractions of bright lights, technology, big statements, and the noise of the modern world.