Walking Together 1, 2019
Bronze Resin 187 x 166 x 80cm – SOLD
The sculpture was originally commissioned by a UK hospital; the second version will be installed mid 2021.
The sculpture describes a caring and supportive relationship, the kind of human contact we are dependent on for our well-being .The dynamic two figures express the strong bonds of friendship, empathy and solidarity, and the commitment and energy necessary for helping or enabling someone else.
There is also a quality of letting go of the person one supports: a similar position to a parent, teacher or medical professional who raises/teaches/nurtures another human being , in order to help, rescue and see them enriched or improved.
Despite their different roles – of supporting back figure and enabled front figure – the two figures are similar in shape , with no distinguishing facial features, in order to indicate their interchangeable nature. The roles of helper and helped are not fixed , but constantly shift , and can be reciprocal: we fulfil both roles in life .
The two figures are conjoined at the hip, to indicate their close bond, and mutual dependency, as if running a three legged race . Indeed, they might be made “from the same stuff’ the common nature that we share with all humans — a metaphor also used in Christian mythology, as Eve being created out of Adams rib.