Sculpture Information
The last drop shows an abstract figure with their arms raised holding a cup from which is falling a single drop of water. There is also a water droplet in the belly of the figure; we are predominantly (60%) made from water. This piece was carved in the summer of 2022 when the water levels in Europe were dangerously low, and this was accredited to climate change.
Whilst I was carving this piece, a freelance Journalist called Tim Smedley had also been researching and writing a book of the same name (Published in 2023). His book is a smouldering indictment of the self-inflicted wounds we’re causing ourselves and the Earth by the careless exploitation of water. I went to hear him speak at the Chipping Campden Literature Festival where the topic of the British pollution crisis was also discussed.
The sculpture has a double meaning as this blue alabaster is now nowhere to be found across the globe. It is the ’last drop’ of that particular type of alabaster.
There could also be a spiritual interpretation/symbolism. A spiritual drought. Where the droplet falling from the cup could be a final anointing for each of us to be stewards of the earth. And the blue alabaster in the belly of the figure could be the spirit flowing from us (John 7:38).