- DAVID CARMAN
- Born on Maungakiekie (one tree hill) in Auckland 1973. He completed a Bachelor of Arts in Art History in 1994, and foundation year at Elam School of Fine Arts, (Auckland University) in 1995. Since then his practice has been based in Cornwall, U.K. and Northland, New Zealand. He works in wood, obsidian, and found objects. His work for Tim Shaw is part of a permanent installation at the Eden Project, Cornwall. / David"s work explores the notion of vanitas". (The word is Latin, meaning "emptiness" and loosely translated corresponds to the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of vanity). "Presently, the hard stone is doing it for me. I am exited by its pretension of permanence, and choose to carve directly, responding to its grain and colour as it goes. It begins with no plan, striking the material until an image (usually anthropomorphic) surfaces...much reflection. For me there is no real sense of progress during creation, often a beutiful moment grounding a daydream about sometimg choice. A smile in stone." See comments for more information.
2 comments:
grim genius 2008. 150mm.(To be worn as a codpiece)
Carved from obsidian; with a beautiful red ochre (kokowai) from that spot in the river.
Fear of the disembodied head lent the Anglo-Saxon word for
mask or helmet:grima the added meaning of
"spectre" or "ghost" leading to the
modern English "grim".
The fire in the head was known as genius.
Obsidian/tuhua
Obsidian is dense, black volcanic glass that forms on the
edge of rhyolite lava flows which have been suddenly cooled
in contact with air or water. Good quality obsidian breaks
with smooth, conchoidal (curved) surfaces, forming sharp blades that can be used for cutting.
Red Ochre/Kokowai
The powder was used in body painting and on carvings, and
stored in pumice pots. Red kōkōwai or ochre is still used
on carvings.
Grim Genius is part of the 12th contemporary Ponamu/hard stone exhibition from 14 feb 2009 at Leftbank art gallery 1 Tainui st, Greymouth.
Post a Comment