ESSERE O NON ESSERE { TO BE OR NOT TO BE }

                      

       

2001

                                                                                                  
CICAGNA,                                                                   

CORNIA, COMUNE DI MOCONESI ,
ITALY

Fontanabuona Black Slate
1m High x 0.5m x 0.5m


3rd International Symposium in Slate
'La Pietra Nera'

The Story

It's unavoidable in Italy not to feel the strong religious ' presence ' in architecture or the church bells ringing out almost all hours of the day especially in the mountains or small towns or villages almost everywhere you go and Cicagna is one of those small towns in the mountains that has that ' presence '.
Cicagna , besides it's marble has it's slate mines , a blue - black slate of quite good quality and the slate was the material I chose to work in having never tried it before , some of the other sculptors chose to work in the local marble . The working technique of slate is not like any other carving process and took me awhile maybe the whole working time of the symposium to feel any way relaxed with the material . The making of sculpture in slate is not very common because you are quite restricted as in what you can do to the material but I would feel more comfortable in the abstract design in the material and cut in the ' right way ' the lines can be very clean and polish up to a very fine finish , that's the plus for the material . When you work the material ' face on ' it's quite hard to carve any grate depth into it and that's why hand cut letters look and wear well in slate , the weather can never damage the material , but when you work the slate with the vein it falls away in sheets , and therefore the working approach I adapted was ' cut in and chop out ' maybe other sculptors have a different working method for the slate but this was the way I approach the material and before I cut the slate I had to think about the cut as in what way it was going to come out and in the way I wanted it to . I would liked to have more time on my hands to see what I could do with the material , this is always the way in working the stone , you want to give it your best as it will give you it's best , but as in symposium it was not to be and to finish the work was more important , always finish , it's your name and reputation , it's better for it to travel ahead of you in good words than bad .
ESSERE O NON ESSERE { To Be Or Not To Be }
From the photographs you can see it's dealing about religion and from the title of the work you can understand the message in the sculpture , but the deeper message within the work is  the conscious and the sub-conscious  mind . The conscious mind [ the thinking mind ] is symbolic of Moses carrying the tablets which the Ten Commandments are carved on in Roman numerals down from the mountain and and the figure at the back is the sub-conscious mind [ non thinking mind ] carved in semi abstract form and burying it's face in it's hands , not wanting to be part of what's going on . You will notice from the photographs that the conscious mind from the weight of the tablets and the responsibility it carries is leaning into the sub-conscious mind as for support . The two minds are joined together at the back of the head showing that the sub-conscious mind can be accessed if we know how to go about it and that both can be one and be one [ To Be Or Not To Be ] .  At the base of the stone on the polished side , which I call ' the dark side ' is carved the sun , the moon and the Tower of Babel , so immense was the Tower that it's top was in the heavens according to the bibical account . The Tower was not built for the worship or praise of God but was dedicated to the glory of man and God seeing what the people had done came down and destroyed the Tower and scattered the people throughout the Earth . Carving the Tower into my work was important to me and the Mind and God debate within myself is still going on as it has since the beginning of Time as we know it .
Most people looking at my work will not see the ' deep message ' in it at first but some will and I remember one old man did get the meaning when I was completing my work but it was not until I carved the Tower of Babel did the sculpture come together for him . I am always surprised when my work can ' touch ' .
                                                    

  

                                                                

THE GHOST OF EL CID

2002                                                                                 

ALMAZAN , { Soria }
SPAIN

Local Limestone

2.7m High x 0.50m x 0.50m

1st International Symposium in Limestone










The Story

It was not long after my return from India that I received an inviation to take part in a symposium in Almazan , Soria , Spain  and it was not until I reached Spain that cultural shock really ' kicked in ' on me . The time from India to Spain was to short as I was still  ' deprogramming ' from India and the work I did there . I do not repeat my work or style in every country, each country deserves a different work , a work that the people of that country can relate to and that's why I go through ' deprogramming ' .

Almazan has a local limestone and it's near to the hardness of granite . My block and size was already chosen for me , that is , when I arrived there the block was already on site and my name on it . So that's it , destiny has chosen the stone condition and size and if I am in '' tune '' with the stone the right sculpture will come out . , this is symposium , the meeting of other sculptors , the work , the challenge , the stone and the time to work it in , if you cannot work within the time allowed for the symposium......... don't go .

My sculpture had to relate to Spain or better still Almazan and my feelings were telling me , El Cid . Spain has many histories and not like the Spain of today and El Cid is part of that history , the part where castles were in their glory and Spain was Spain .  Trying to portray a part of a country's history be it in paint or sculpture is not an easy task and needs research but as I have said before I work with my ' feelings ' and THE GHOST OF EL CID  was going to relive in my stone . So not to ' waste ' away the stone I used all that was given to me and carved ' snap shots ' of El Cids time in Spain   .......    castles , swords and shields mountains and battle fields complete with the rats in after the battle to feed . One sculptor taking part in the symposium made the remark to me that I was painting the stone , { it was not a complement } , it just showed he was judging sculpture on his own concept as to what sculpture should be and therefore he has already reached his ' peak '.  In the making of art it's all about ' expression ' and not ' proven formulas ' that feel safe . In the process of making art it's a transformation of mind and body , a learning and feeling change that's private and when it's all finished it becomes the artwork born from an idea , a feeling and the desire to create and not from the ' proven formula '.

The main door of my castle you can enter your hand in right up to your elbow , which means that I carved the inside of the stone out , not drilled because with drilling the chance of bursting the stone open is greater and I could not take that chance with the stone , and so it was carved by hand as in hammer and punch and air hammer . Even though my sculpture is depicting scenes from a history , the real ' joy ' for me in this work was opening the stone as in the door of the castle and to see how far I could ' push ' the  stone ...... the door to El Cid's world has just opened .

                                                                      

                                                       

TESTING ....1 , 2 , 3 ....TESTING

(A Separate Reality)


Mix Media in Glass, Wood, Sand and Stone Dust
0.33m x 0.22m

Private Collection Canada

REINCARNATION OF THE BOY KING

1997

                                                                                                              
(Provincia di Venezia)
Promenade
CAORLE
ITALY

Trachite
2m long x 1.5m high

5th International Symposium in Trachite


The Story

The town of Caorle on the East coast of Italy like most coastal towns around the world uses boulders to keep the sea from eating away the coast line , but unlike most coastal towns , Caorle came up with the idea of inviting sculptors in to carve the stones on site on the promenade . The town gets the sculpture and the sculptor gets the town , as a place for his work . Like all promenades this one is very popular amongst the people as a favorite walking place in the evenings and apart from their enjoyment of the see air they get the bonus of a '' slide show '' of sculpture as they walk . My work REINCARNATION OF THE BOY KING is a religious work , and not to far from where I worked I could hear the church bells and it was the church bells that I heard when viewing my stone for the first time so it more or less fell into place . There is always the gamble I take in doing work on a ' feeling ' . I start on the idea and in the process of the work it then becomes an exchange between the stone , the ' feeling ' and me [ the tool ] . In this work the lion and the lioness is what I kept 'seeing ' in the stone and from their union came the ' Boy King ' in human form .......... it's a different angle on the religious stories......... but it's mine .

A WORLD WITHIN A WORLD

(A Separate Reality)


Mix Media in Glass, Ceramic. Cardboard, Sea Shells and Wood.
0.31m x 0.26m

Private Collection

ENERGY FOR BENGAL

2002   

NANDAN ART MUSEUM,

VISVA BHARATI UNIVERSITY,
SANTINIKETAN,
WEST BENGAL,
INDIA

Welded Steel

2.75m High x 1.22m X 1.22m


The Story

I was invited by VISVA BHARATI UNIVERSITY in West Bengal as ' visiting artist ' . I gladly accepted the invitation because it was their recognition to me as a self taught artist , but I will admit I was quite nervous at the time because they wanted me to ' teach '. This I could not do because I believe everybody is capable of making ' art ' in some form or other , admittedly there are born teachers and there are born artists , teacher I am not , artist I try to be . So in my own way I ' interacted ' with the students , in that way I felt we all could learn from each other and I have to say here that the students were of a very high standard , both in sculpture and in painting .

ENERGY FOR BENGAL was my present to VISVA BHARATI . The sculpture welded steel through out . The main frame represents North , South , East and West , India . The top part , in a box frame is symbolic of man within his Mind and the bars of steel coming from this are symbolic of Energy which move in the wind acting as a ' chime ' so you hear different sound pitch when you are near the sculpture . The boat at the bottom is carrying the rice , the food of India , and rotates on the symbolic fountain of water , representing Life , the People , the Energy .

RATTLESNAKE AND THE MOUSE

1987

Irish Limestone
48 cm Long
Private Collection

JAZZMAN SINGS

1995

FORDONGIANUS (Provincia di Oristano),
SARDINIA,
ITALY

Trachite
2m High

5th International Symposium in Trachite

The Story

Confined to the machined block size , I set out to do a work that the people could relate to and to create a ' twist ' in the block line as you can see just below the chin . The stone was carved by hand as Trachite is a soft and volcanic stone . When I can I like to carve with hammer and chisel if the time allows me . There is something that does it for me in carving stone by hand , I feel very close to the material and the result can be totally different as to using power tools . The stone was carved in five days of nice sunshine on the island of Sardinia .

MIDDAY REST

1987
Irish Limestone
38 cm Long

Private Collection

A TREE FOR A NEW MILLENIUM

'Un Arbre pour le 3eme Millenaire'


1997

MONTBRISON
FRANCE

Gres Stone
2.50 m high x 0.5 m

6th International Symposium in Stone

The Story

This sculpture was hand carved in five days using a hammer and one chisel , which I kept sharpening through out the work . My reason for telling this is not to be boastful but to show what can be achieved in five days of carving by hand where most sculptors today , and I include myself , use power tools , but there is a nice rhythm and feeling in hearing and seeing stone worked by hand . My stones already had a ' life ' in a building that was demolished in the town and I gave them a ' new life ' in the form of my sculpture . I feel privileged in working all stone that has been here since the formation of the Earth .

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Collage on Brown Paper on Board
1.83m Long x 1.22 High (6' x 4')


Private Collection

The Story

I made this work after my visits to The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo , Sicily . The photograph does not do it justice [ but would still like to include it ] because there is a lot of information to read , as in the written word that you cannot see . While reading the overall work and the captions , the meaning of the work has a bigger impact on the sences and emotions that rise in you while becoming           
 '' involved '' in the work .

COSMIC TRAVELLER

2004

Irish Granite

31cm High x 24cm Long x 10cm Wide
Private Collection

ZYMA - ZENA [ SNAKE WOMAN ]

1988

BURGAS CITY
BULGARIA

Bulgarian Marble
2.50m Long

13th International Symposium in Stone

This work is a street bench sited in Burgas City
and can seat six adults.

The Story

This was the first symposium I took part in on invitation . Bulgaria was still under the Communist rule of Russia at the time but none of this I gave any thought to . What was in the forefront of my mind at this time was that the biggest stone up till now that I had carved was no more than two feet tall and only limestone , never marble or granite . In carving marble it's a different approach , mentally and technically , this I know now but back then all I wanted to do was carve stone , any stone type . The symposium ran for thirteen weeks and I had time , time to learn and time to find myself with the stone . I was the ' boy ' in the camp , I think about ten sculptors in all , older than me and very experienced in the working of the stone . It was from these men that I got a good foundation in stone carving and I thank them for that , maybe some of them are dead by now but they still live on in my memories to this day .
Zyma - Zena is a Bulgarian saying for a ' good woman ' and a ' bad woman ' it depends on the way it is used in the sentence . I was in a coffee shop with a Polish and Kazakh , both very talented sculptors , who were also taking part in the symposium . They took me into there ' care ' more or less , they spoke Russian and I spoke English , but that did not stop us from spending all of that day and many others together , drinking beer or wine or believe it or not sometimes coffee . Anyway , while in the coffee shop I kept hearing from another table the words , not once but many times , ' Zyma - Zena ' and asked , [ the long way about ] , my friends what it meant , ' Zyma - Zena ' ........... and it was explained to me , [ in the long way about ] , as these things are when only Russian and English are spoken through a haze of smoke , beer and eating raw sardines , and my sculpture began to take shape in that coffee shop , I can't say in my mind because it was not ' clear ' but the next twelve weeks were spent with my '' Zyma - Zena '' learning to cut marble and feeling alive and I thank Bulgaria for that experience .

                                  My block at day one .