MARKE MEYER BRONZE SCULPTURE

Beneath the Surface

Year: 2019
Suspended Bronze - Lifesize torso of chameleons
Dimensions: 80cm x 44cm x 12cm

Mass: 15.4kg

Selling price: R89 500

I have created a series of life-size suspended torsos.

Although my work is always figurative. I often use symbolic icons in my work.
In these torsos, I make exclusive use of my symbolic iconography to make up the form of the torsos themselves.
The torsos have symbolic & metaphoric value; they also ‘embody’ the interaction between sculptor and model.
The moulding process is an art requiring multiple steps. It involves working from positive to negative to positive and then back to negative repeatedly (7 moulds in all) to achieve the final result.

The individual threads, chameleons, paper dolls, tree frogs and jig-saw pieces, although fragile and vulnerable as individual pieces, possess a calming strength in the ‘exoskeleton’ that they create when linked together – so it is with the individual.
The torsos hint at transformation, overcoming fears, adaptation, and transcending from one state (whether physical or metaphysical) to another.
In all of the works, fragility, risk & vulnerability compete with strength & tenacity, attempting to find an equilibrium

As with all my works, the title is taken from poetry I have written and etched into the piece itself.

To date, I have created 5 pieces in the series, Beneath the Surface is one of them.

Beneath the Surface – made up chameleons.
Chameleons, are a recurring icon in my work. They can be seen, clutched in a hand, on a foot, hidden in hair on a head, or on top of a pile of apples.
For me, chameleons represent dual energies that make up the individual: light and dark, masculine and feminine. They imply transition, change, adaption, camouflage and self-preservation.
This piece is a progression of the chameleons now having actually become the human torso. The yin-yang chameleons present a ‘skin’ that protects the inner individual. It is a suspended bronze giving a delicate lightness of being.