Golems

This installation investigates ideas of mutable and evolving identities.

Employing playfulness and humour, I draw on ideas from Sigmund Freud's theories of psychoanalysis and therefore from surrealist sculpture such as the work of Kamilla Sajetz Mathisen. My form is inspired by the natural, oftentimes small, objects of the earth, like fossils, pebbles, crystals and plants. I work across media using shape, pattern, and semi-figurative forms. My sculptural work is intended to be accessible and touchable, enabling an audience to connect to the work in a playful way, and to consider their changing experiences of what it is to be human.

The shape of the Golems suggests a conscious being without suggesting gender, race, sexuality or age, leaving the identity of the Golems indeterminate in this way allows the audience to project themselves onto the creatures, thus encouraging reflection. The texture invites the audience to touch, engaging with more than one sense not only widens the audience further, but brings them closer to the work in ways something unreachable could not.

Choosing a spiral shape references fossils, thus linking to evolution and history. Somebody who notices this may be encouraged to reflect on their own personal history as part of their identity. The change in size between golems references growth and change, whilst the sculptures are all similar, they still nonetheless differ from each one to the next, just as we do with every passing moment.

The open space allows for more freedom of exploration, including by means of meditation. The nature setting demonstrates how our closeness with the world around us, whether we are out of touch or tuned in, greatly affects our identities.