REMPSTONE.STUDIO

Not To Scale. Carrara Marble. Stripping the scales from a locally caught Red Mullet inspired this piece. At this point the proverbial scales had fallen from my eyes and I was beginning to see the macro world of the sea. Red Mullet scales are proportionally quite large (a species of Goat Fish). The striking detail was obvious to the naked eye, and I began looking at other species of fish scales using a macro lens on my camera. Interestingly there was a clear repeat of the concentric lines I had seen on bivalve shells. The centre being the genesis and the outline being the final incarnation. This history of mortal life, having a clear beginning and end struck a profound resonance in me. I had long struggled to find a suitable mark to sign my work. On the rare occasion I did sign anything (initials and date) I felt like I was defacing the piece with a little bit of self-indulgent graffiti. On this piece I have settled for a version of a ‘tilde’. It is an incomplete infinity symbol and often used as the dash between birth and death dates on a memorial. It also happens to be an ’S’ on its side. Each of my sculptures represent one of my growth rings during my finite journey so my signature is now a ‘finity’ sign and each sculpture as part of my story. The slightly translucent nature of Carra Marble gives a wonderful life to the material. The crisp contrast of light and shadow draws the eye to the detail in this piece and plays fascinating tricks of optical illusion. In some lights convex forms appear concave and lines ascend and descend like Penrose stairs. The angular geometry of the Cumbrian Black Slate plinth accentuates the ancient evolution of this piece.