E101 | Lessons from my 15 year old sculpture

I am moving house soon so the shed needed a clear out. 8 years of ‘stuff’ accumulated and it was interesting what I pulled out.   It was full of paint pots, deck chairs, sewing machine, old trainers - the list goes on.  I pulled all this ‘stuff’ out and then my heart stopped…   At the bottom of the huge pile of stuff was my 15 year old sculpture.   It had been sitting underneath all this stuff for more than 8 years!!!!!!   I looked at it tossed on the floor, wondering how it was still intact.  I literally stood there and felt like I was picking a piece of myself off the floor.   I held that sculpture and memories of making it came flooding back. I could literally see myself in this piece of work. My marks, my hands, my feelings, my pain.   At the time of making this piece, I didn’t really like it. However, I really enjoyed making it.   Looking at it again, after 8 years I saw this work in a whole new light. It was me I was looking at, or part of me.   I could see it so clearly.   It was also a stark realisation that feeling like I was picking myself off the floor was in a way a metaphor for how I am feeling in my life.  There is part of my I have definitely pushed to the side.   It is no coincidence that this sculpture is ‘speaking’ to me after all these years.   I share all in this episode that I filmed with ‘My Friend, Sharon’.   Enjoy.