2021/22 Series - Fragile Stability

This series explores fragility and vulnerability by pushing the boundaries of the medium. Oamaru stone is inherently stable; strong enough to build houses.  But by carving the stone away to reveal the fragile form I remove its inherent stability and highlight its ability to be both fragile and stable; to hold the tension of opposition, even contradiction.

I want to push myself as well as challenge the viewer to hold this tension. I consider fragility and stability as inherent to the human condition.  As Henry Moore said, “To know one thing, you must know the opposite”.1 Taking a stable medium and removing the solid form, essentially what makes it stable, pushes my own vulnerabilities as a sculptor and challenges the viewer to feel the balance of the weight or strength and the calm or vulnerability of the form.  This may feel like balance, it may invoke a sense of anxiety.  

I also hope that people can connect with and feel curious about the aesthetic forms.  The organic shapes come primarily from my process of exploring vulnerability.  I’ve pushed the medium as far as it can go without breaking the pieces, and in order to do this I’ve had to be mindful of balancing the weight of the piece as a whole. As I work I rotate the sculpture removing small amounts of stone at a time.  I open up the negative spaces slowly, without holding expectations of a particular form, but staying conscious that the key is balance, and knowing that the negative space, what we don’t see, is as important as the physical form in front of our eyes.

1 (Henry Moore Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com).