Sculpture Information

In this large block I could see a man kneeling. In the news, at the time, there were demonstrations about the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis in America on 25 May 2020. So, I began to carve a kneeling figure to represent the Black Lives Matter Movement. However, the stone, where the supporting arm should have been stretched to the ground, fell away like dust causing the arm to bend upwards rather than straight to the floor. Below the up bent arm hand was a protruding ridge. I made the ridge into a sword.  I decided not to give him a face making him other worldly. The red iron deposits on his back apparently match with the marks that soldiers had when they carried their metal swords on horseback, as the sword’s arms chaffed against their backs.

The sculpture made me think about the Old Testament story from the Book of Ezekiel (Chapter 37) where the prophet Ezekiel is told by God to prophesy to the valley of dry bones. These are the bones of those who were slain. He prophesied that they would listen and be reformed. As he speaks, the bones come together…then the tendons, flesh and breath… to form a living army. This sculpture could be the first warrior.

I carved a skull at his feet to show he came from the bones of death.

The name was difficult. I didn’t want him to be seen as a crusader, as the spiritual battle is to love others as we love ourselves, violence is not the way. This sculpture for me is a symbol of hope. Life out of death. A metaphor of our rising up with new life to bring change, a new way to be.