Wednesday 25 January 2012

"The Noble Truth"



A few posts back I mentioned that I had been invited to submit a piece of work to the AAW POP exhibition 
in May after which the piece will be going to the AAW symposium in San Jose, California.

The title of the exhibition is "Beyond Containment" and the bases of my piece is drawn from my deep interest in the teachings of Zen/Buddhism and the belief of impermanence, in that all things be they riches, possessions, power, happiness, sadness, fast cars, pain etc etc, will eventually end and are impermanent, and by this simple fact are beyond our containment or control.  Within the teachings it is a fundamental belief  of the fragility of all things with this being the natural order of life, nature and all around us. By accepting this we can find peace in our existance even if in pain or hardship.

The main teachings of this are contained within "The Four Noble Truths", "The Noble Eightfold Path" and is
the fundamental basis of the dharma which is contemplated for many decades by followers of Buddhism in the pursuit of enlightenment. 

This piece is my representation of this and life and is represented in a decaying vessel. 

Many techniques have been used from pyrography, scorching with a blow torch, staining with inks, colouring with acrylic paints, metal foils and patination techniques plus a few new techniques I picked up along the way while making the piece. The finial/handle is a twig taken from a broken/fallen part of an English Oak tree and again represents impermanence.

The main form is sycamore and measures 6 inches dia x around 5 inches high and is sitting on a slate base.





10 comments:

George Foweraker said...

Hi Mark.This is is a very nice piece.I do not fully understand the philosophy behind it but because you have made this piece as part of a philosophy that you believe in makes it all the more significant for me.If that makes sense

Lee Robert Sneddon said...

Hi Mark,

I have commented on WOW as I saw your post their first.

I hope you don't mind but here is a link to the piece on WOW with comments:

http://www.thewows.com/isapi.dll?c=content&htx=view&siteid=G6kOAI&contentid=ZZZZYKG6&contentclass=PICT

The piece is a stunner btw!

Cheers,

Lee.

Ian "Turners Cabin " said...

Mark you always impress
I don’t know where you get your patience from . i cant wait to see what you come up with next
Ian
www.turnerscabin.co.uk

Adie said...

Another fine example of your ever progressing work Mark.

Chris said...

Hi Mark,this is a wonderful piece, have given this some deep thought over the last week or so, constantly coming back to view, for me it embodies the circle of life, from the beginning growing into something beautiful and the slow decay, which will complete the cycle, the impermenence of being, congratulations on the WOW cover.
all the best Chris

Unknown said...

A Brilliant piece of work Mark- congratulations on the wow cover too

Mark said...

Hi all

Thank you all for your comments.

It was a pleasant and honoured surprise for me to have been invited to submit a piece to the AAW exhibition as I have mentioned before. It is a wonderful feeling to think that my work is recognised as being worthy of such an invite and is another exciting part of the long, hard but very enjoyable journey of being a maker in todays climate, (mind you having read many books about the subject I am not sure it has ever been an easy vocation to undertake).

But the excitment of the unknown, the failures, sucesses and the people I meet along the way make it all the more enjoyable.

So thank you all again for your comments they are much appreciated and this together with the cover of WOW has made it a great day already.

All of you, family and freinds that give support and help are one of the reasons I keep moving forward and help me to develop further.

Take care

Mark

Frans Brown said...

Mark I know you allways put a great deal of yourself into your works, and this piece is no exception. It says mark Sanger all over. A wonderful piece of work.

Frans

Mark said...

Hi Frans

Thank you for dropping in and commenting it is much appreciated. I hope you are well.

This type of work I have come to realise is what I enjoy doing best, not so much the round turned form as a basis for my work, but the involving of myself totally in a piece with most of the work being done off of the lathe.

Soon I will get back into the sculptures that I have sat on the side in my workshop.

Thank you again for taking time to comment.

Take care

Mark

Ray Small said...

Fabulous piece Mark. You have really captured the decaying feel of the vessel and achieve a snapshot in time in the process. Huge congratulations on your achievement... very well deserved!