The Lovers

‘The Lovers’ was exhibited with a series of figurative pieces at the Newport City Museum and ArtGallery, South Wales, UK, from November 2009 to January 2010.

The ideas came from a reading of the Epic of Gilgamesh. This poem is one of the earliest documents of human endeavour from the third millennium BC.

The poem tells of the exploits of Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu, expressing the constant tension between the divine and animal-like nature of man.

Gilgamesh, through his exploits, yearns to gain immortal status and finally learns of his humanity and how to live in the knowledge that he will one day die.

The poem is pieced together from stone fragments in a way in which not everything can be fully explained. There are spaces, which allow for the imagination to breathe; to expand and to explore.

It is in the ‘gaps’ of the narrative that the figures have taken form.

‘The Lovers’ are archetypal and have no specific story. There is a strong theme of sexual potency in the hero’s exploits, and his companion Enkidu was beguiled by the ‘female’.

Porcelain with oxides applied and fired to 1260C