Punk Rock
Mixed Media
2018
height: 65cm / width: 33cm / depth: 33cm
I’ve always admired the fetish dolls of the African continent. Not just in the beautifully simple way that human and animal forms are abstracted by the artists, but also for their inventive use of objets trouvé. Nails, string, bits of old tin can and the like get used to augment and decorate a central carved piece and to bring it to life.
This statement piece is my take on the idiom. It all started when I dug a lump of gritstone out of the garden that seemed to me to have a sad expression, and it snowballed out of control from there… The abstracted face is carved in relief into the front, intentionally leaving the back in its raw state, using an old cast iron wheel and crushed glass for the base, a zip for the mouth, a small speaker for the eye, and blue glass chandelier drops for the Mohican. The leather-covered timber body is covered in a geometric array of stainless steel spikes. Nearly all of the materials used in its construction have been reclaimed or upcycled.
Private Collection