This month, I’ve drawn from a selection of recently named pieces, many of which I sketched during the height of the pandemic shutdown, then sculpted and fired over the last two years. With the easing of social distancing restrictions and increased vaccination rates, I’ve finally been able to resume live naming sessions for my sculptures to seek out their stories.
The three sessions I’ve held brought together different groups of people, but each proved so stimulating that we named three pieces per session! You can see many of the newly named sculptures on my website, including What Shall I Do?, Prelude to Mischief, Jack’s Dream of Transcendence, Journey of the Soul’s Release, The Acolytes of Eoster, The Rules Do Not Apply, You Want to Go Where?, and Last Call.
The piece I have chosen to feature this month was among those named. It’s unusual in that, during the firing process, a large crack opened up down the middle. Normally, I would throw such a piece away, but an inspiration came to fill the crack with molten metal instead.
Hope and Despair in a Time of Turmoil
At first, I thought I would use bronze, but I discovered the temperature required to melt it would likely destroy the piece when poured into the crack. In the end, I chose tin, which melts easily on the stove and filled the crack without mishap.
The original sketch for this sculpture was part of a series I did during June of 2020 at the height of pandemic uncertainty and sheltering in place. Since then, we have gone through a tumultuous presidential election, near complete polarization of our populace through false conspiracy theories spread over the Internet, increasing evidence of climate change, numerous senseless gun massacres, the tragedy and continuing anxiety of the war in Ukraine, and now, Roe v. Wade overturned. Most of us find it hard to take an easy breath these days.
So, it made a lot of sense when a crack opened up in this sculpture during firing, and filling it with molten metal seemed an appropriate way to emphasize the message.
The subsequent naming session spoke directly to the division in the imagery between the sharply threatening environment of the helpless chicken in the lower right, and what appears to be a benevolent spirit of hope crossing over the gash in this depressing reality and leading to a calm sea on the left side of the piece.
Hope and Despair in a Time of Turmoil invites us to make a choice.
