pike

Pike Sculpture

The concept for the pike sculpture developed from my first site visit to Lochan Spling with Rob Robinson, the project coordinator . At that end of loch the wind tends to gather up branches that have been blown into the loch over the winter.

As I stood there looking at the water with the branches jutting out creating perfect mirror images in the still surface of the loch the idea triggered in my mind that the branch like shapes could form the pike. Initially I wanted to have the pike lying flat in water, but after a few early tests with the armature I realised that it would be to abstracted and difficult to register as a figurative representation.

As the overall concept of the trail is to encourage children to learn about the food chain and animals in forest I decided to position the sculpture to create a more figurative piece. Once it had been placed in loch I was pleased to see the effect of the reflection, which created a more ambiguous and less literal representation. As with all the sculptures on the trail I have endeavoured to add some complexity to each piece either by the methodology of the construction or by using unexpected materials.

Control Music