The Letter That Rubbed Away
The Letter That Rubbed Away, 2021
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This box winged it’s way to me from the USA with a small klaf (sacred scroll) inside. When the scroll was removed the box was just a box. Many years before I’d heard the story of The Letter That Rubbed Away. A single letter had faded from a scroll, resulting in many strange events befalling the family. This box is the adventures of that letter. I dreamed of how the letter was rubbed away, many years of kisses and lingering touches to venerate the scroll’s message wearing away the paper against the container. The Mem slowly rubbed away…released from the earth it flew to the heavens. Messenger….Angel…King and the words it initiates merged into one celestial dreamscape.
M dances in the cosmos then wanders over planets, trees, shards merging with the cherry blossoms and stars.
The outside of the box remains formal and polished. It hints at the cosmic chaos where buttons become planets, but holds that mystery with reserve.
The exterior of the sculpture shows a seal. It is a play on kitsch using a wedding stationary seal but altering the words to those carved upon hell’s gates in 'Dante’s Inferno'. I wanted it to feel like a pretty feminine jewellery box that had somehow taken on a whole other life
Cast List:
THE LETTER MEM / BLUE MEN
Messenger, angel, celestial being and rubbed out scroll letter. Mem is the letter rubbed away from the word ‘Listen’. It forms the starting letter for messenger, angel, water and takes on the elements of each word as it decides where to rest.
THE SKULL HEAD FIGURE
Joyful read figure, with a death mask on. Dancing through the heavens. Symbol of the temporal.
THE THINKER
Seated on a planet, contemplation figure, the slower pace, the need to think before acting.
THE BUTTONS
Cast off buttons, the clothes they belong to as spares long since worn out, now celestial entities, planets, meteors and stars for the Mem to inhabit.
THE CHERRY BLOSSOM TREE
Part cherry blossom, part comet. Symbol of spring, new hope and heavenly energies.