23 Oak Summer

Oak (summer) 2018
Bronze h47 x w19 x d31 cm

The 2018 Alde Valley Spring Festival exhibition took its theme from the bronze head of Emperor Claudius, found in the River Alde in 1907 at Rendham, two miles upstream from White House Farm.  The piece is regarded as one of England’s earliest examples of portraiture.  The resulting exhibition explored the theme of the Figure in the landscape.

Head: Oak (summer) took this theme to heart, with its depiction of a head/oak tree.  I wanted very much to capture that sense of authority so many bronze Roman heads show especially when adorned with a circular laurel wreath or crown.  I therefore crowned Head: Oak with a simple decoration of oak galls, knopper galls and acorns, while leaving the top of the head open to the elements.  I turned the head slightly, to give a touch of majesty, and also made the neck/trunk strong like the pollarded oaks which populate White House Farm.

There is great affection for the old English oak and its place in English history.  The tree is also of high importance to the insect, bird and animal life residing within the oak’s body, as well as the woodland it rules over.  I wanted to hint at this biodiversity in some way, and found it with my tribute to Snail Hotel.  On one occasion, while drawing in Back House Pond Covet over the winter, I discovered a crevice jam-packed with snails at the base of an oak.  I named it Snail Hotel and made a version of it at the base of Head: Oak (summer).

P.S. I promise I did not burn out live snails!  Empty snail shells were made into wax versions and then put into their new hotel.