Suspended Object

Art Installation

"Conscious"

This piece was inspired by my former colleagues at the International Criminal Court in The Hague and the conviction of those that endeavoured to create the Court. It hangs in the hallway close to my former office.

The title “Conscious” comes from a section of the Preamble of the Rome Statute (the founding document) of the International Criminal Court:

“Conscious that all peoples are united by common bonds, their cultures pieced together in a shared heritage, and concerned that this delicate mosaic may be shattered at any time,”

Each human being is different, and beautiful, regardless of any internal or external “damage” we may have. We are all different shapes, sizes, colours and have different backgrounds, yet we all share the common beauty of humanity.

So with each piece of wood – each is different, each is beautiful, regardless of what has happened to it or where it comes from. Each is an individual piece with its own characteristics, yet together these pieces form a whole and are connected.

I use found / re-claimed wood, mostly from recent construction and demolition projects. Each piece of wood is individually crafted and takes many hours to finalise: a piece of wood informs me how it wants to be shaped bit by bit, from sawing large pieces off of "corners", to rough sanding with a sanding machine to round it more, to sanding by hand again and again with finer and finer sandpaper. Final stage is spray painting a clear coating 3 or 4 times, each time sanding finer and finer until the surface is very smooth and soft.