The
Sentinel
Sentinel
came about through an invitation by David Handley, Director,
Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, to exhibit a new sculpture
as part of their annual exhibition along the Bondi Coastline.
This was an opportunity for me to visit a country, which
had proved to be an inspiration for a great deal of my output,
between 1988-1990, and a way of reflecting on how my work
had evolved over the 14 year interlude since my last series
of visits to Australia.
In
addition, SXS invited me to be keynote speaker at the Art
Gallery of NSW where I lectured on the Cass Sculpture Foundation,
the first 10 years of Goodwoods’ impact on the contemporary
art world, and its relationship to the evolving face of
British Sculpture.
I was also invited to take a Master Class in drawing at
the Tom Bass Sculpture Studio School in Sydney and was privileged
to work with a dedicated group of staff and a range of talented
students.
My sculpture, Sentinel formed part of an exhibit at Marks
Park, Bondi, a high promontory with spectacular views across
the Tasman Sea.
The shape and form of the sculpture, derived from studies
of garment contour patterns and industrial rolling stock,
had distinct figurative connotations. Its title appropriate
to the isolation of the locale, and vistas across the headland.
The rich red patina of the sculpture referenced the iron
infused centre of this continent, a potent memory from my
early visits to Australia; its overall form resonant of
the Pinnacles Dessert in Western Australia, a spectacular
landmass that I had visited in 1990.
Two
versions of this sculpture exist, (the other, entitled “Klansman”,
in Dubai), made from different materials and reflective
of the environment and setting.
Sentinel
forms part of a series of ongoing artworks, which reflect
my interest in the Found Object tradition in Modern and
Contemporary Art, through the use of garment templates,
which act as metaphors for the human body, and allude to
ideas relating to identity.
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