Harp

35 cm × 25 cm × 10 cm

Carved from English oak, 2009

 

This piece was done in an off-cut from the chainsaw carvings at the Westonbirt Festival. It involves a theme I use quite often, which is the combination of shapes which are incongruous together for quite simple geometric reasons, whilst being too abstract to cause any more obvious clash.

To expand slightly, I find that I have connotations for very simple qualities of shapes that imply a certain origin and length scale. One of the most important aspects is whether a shape looks like it arose out of human engineering or out of biology. This is often the most trivial to see, straight edges and right angles for human design verses smooth tendrils or membranes for evolution, although the distinction can sometimes be more subtle.

The other aspects relate to my previous life as a physics student. Different characteristics of shapes arise in different physical situations, for example if thin tendrils are snaking out in all directions from an object it is implied that gravity is not a significant force acting on that object, or a large flat membrane with slow gentle curves is probably in a low Reynolds fluid (or a vacuum). Combining, for instance, a gently curving membrane with a shape displaying characteristics of large geological structures produces, to my eye, something which looks extremely odd but for no obvious representative reason.

 

for sale at £250 -. Please e-mail me for prices and availability.