'KING CARRIERS'

An unusual sculpture with depth and humour, showing two characters rushing along carrying a King high on a chair above them.

In this sculpture the King is being carried along by his guards, who are holding him aloft in a sort of sedan chair. The King, who has either become alarmed by the pace of travel at that great height, or who is enthusiastically adding to its fast-paced energy, is holding himself out of his chair by balancing on his hands and throwing his feet forwards. If he is the King then he should be in charge of the situation, but it is not clear here whether he is driving the race or whether it is taking him, and how comfortable he is with that. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of communication between the King and the guards and, having been set running, they might have lost connection to their own sense of what they are doing and whether it is a good idea of not.

My feeling about this sculpture is that it offers a humorous take on some of the convoluted positions that we can find ourselves accepting without having been able to gain perspective to wonder what we are doing. I often think that we would find aspects of life quite bizarre if it wasn’t for our familiarity with the situation, and I am drawn to making sculpture as a way to muse on that. The process of making and looking at art brings up things from the subconscious to be thought about and understood.
This sculpture is made of a beautiful translucent British eco-resin, which allows for interesting glimpses through to the armature, or internal structure of the sculpture, and is mounted on a semi-translucent, almost black, flat acrylic base. It is 26cm long by 26cm tall and 7cm wide including the base, and is one of a limited edition of 24. The sculpture is initialed on the inside of the bottom of the back left chair leg, and comes with a signed letter of authentication, stating its edition number. It is the right size to sit on your desk, shelves or mantlepiece and look as if it is travelling across its own landscape there.

Although the sculpture looks delicate it actually much more robust than it appears and can withstand small knocks and movements in the home. Being made in a light-weight material, it weighs less than half a kilo and is easy to transport and move about. I package it in a sturdy cardboard box and it travels very well by courier.