Time, 2021

Size: 65x70x168cm

This cardboard sculpture started life as an old portrait left on the shelf twelve years ago of my mother. I decided at the end of 2020 that it was time to return and finish it. The work is based on a strong woman (my mother), who at 74 years old has lived an eventful and full life with episodes of calm and the chaos – like the waves of a stormy sea. This sculpture was designed and built to capture her life, her thoughts and her history, for prosperity. The concept of space and time is shown through the visual presentation of her written words, the ebb and flow of all things and her connection to TS Eliot’s poem contained with ‘Four Quartets.’ In this piece you can see a cut out body section with a lighthouse mounted within a sea of well-known wave paintings/illustrations. The lighthouse draws on her family heritage and serves as a metaphor for how we navigate through difficult life events. The writing emanates from her cardboard pen, suspended in the air as a stream of thought. This documents her history, her thoughts, her personality and making sense of 74 years on this earth. The photos on the base are a record of time, history and past events – how people and family shape who we are. The photos appear broken and fractured as time erodes connections.