FAQ

1 Oct, 2008

Q:  What on earth are they?

A:  They are ships (most of them), ship sculpture to be more specific, and are not intended as miniatures of ships.

This means that the base on which they happen to stand is the surface of the waters, which these imaginary vessels plow.  You may wonder what lies underneath; and if you do, then at least one of the purposes for making them at all has been fulfilled.

Q:  What are they made of?

A:  Low fired stoneware ceramics, if not otherwise specified.  They have not been glazed and the color is from various water-soluble media fixed with acrylic varnish.

Q:  Why ships?

A: To start with, I suppose, because they are old bosom pals of their maker: work with what is close to you!

Then, too, ships are an age-old symbol for voyaging, for life itself, that is.  And the ocean is no less laden with symbolic value.

Q:  Why them same old politicians and celebrities?

A: They are easier as subject matter for both the maker and the viewer, as an introduction to the whole idea of ship sculpture as a form of art. 

I seem to be moving into more general themes in my artwork but it may well be that the familiar figures and occurrences will keep reappearing nonetheless.

Q: Why do they have such sick titles?

A:  I am not the one to say.  The viewer, of course, is entitled to decide, which is the more sick, the artist or the surrounding world.

Q:  Can't you make anything more beautiful and humane?

A:  Maybe. At the moment ships just come so naturally from me.  The ironing irons seem to complement ships when the intended size is smaller.

Ships and irons are interesting as a subject matter also because hardly anyone else seems to be making them at the moment, as a form of sculpture.  The expance to explore seems endless and certainly, at least, one life is not enough to exhaust it.

Q:   Can they be kept outdoors?

A:   Because of the coloring technique used the pieces are for indoors exclusively.  The colors, by the way, show better in lighting less bright than direct sunlight; artificial light even suits them fine.

Q:   There are no price tags on them.  Are they for sale?

A:   They are.

Q:  Why does anything exist at all?

A:  forty-two.