Standing Figure

Stanley Greaves: Speaking about my own work can be considered a “conflict of interest”. The reason for choosing it is because it is a work constructed from several pieces of wood instead of being carved form a single block, as is the tradition in Guyana. One advantage of this method is that changes can be made easily. And a form can become very complex if this is wanted. The theme is related to the Crucifixion but I did not give it that title in order for the viewer to make his or her own assessment. I personally like to do constructions because of the range of options available, as in the use of different materials. Winston Strick’s constructions are a perfect example of this.

Akima McPherson: I’m not sure I understand why discussing one sculpture from scores of artwork you have done over your long career is termed a “conflict of interest”. Standing Figure technically distinguishes itself from most sculptures within the National Collection in being a work arrived at through an additive mode rather than the subtractive mode.  Guyanese sculptors typically subtract material from a mass, by that I mean carve away/remove wood from a wood mass to arrive at form. In this instance, you have approached the work through an additive process – adding pieces to arrive at the final form. Perhaps yours is the first of this type within the National Collection.  Winslow Craig’s Flight (also in the National Collection) is another; this is a technique he sometimes employs.

SG: Some may say that I am promoting myself. After the 2012 National Exhibition I did meet with sculptors to discuss alternative ways of approaching sculpture and hoped to see new directions being taken. The “additive mode” is related to modelling which is another building-up process. Standing Figure can easily be disassembled into four parts. The image contains references to the scrubbing board and Demerara windows… aspects of Guyanese culture. The middle form, while not obviously so, can be regarded as some kind of bird or strange flower. It is an organic form created to produce tension between itself and the more geometric parts. The fact that it is a different colour wood produces additional tension through colour.

AM: I’ll refrain from comment on ‘self-promotion, and art and artists’ since space does not permit an adequate exploration. So, back to Standing Figure. The tension you speak of between the organic and inorganic and the variation in colour of wood is not there for me. The tension for me is in the rectangular geometric forms and the irregular form that is derived from the oval, another geometric form, and the echoes of the oval in the surface of what you call the ‘scrubbing board’. The piece was actually a challenging one for me until months ago when you pointed out the reference points.

SG: As far as tensions go I suspect we are saying the same thing in different words. Your “irregular form” is the same as my “organic form”. The “oval” you refer to is really a truncated oval with a stem and the top and is flat with an inside fold. The work does not tell a story as paintings sometimes do but is focused on the interplay of forms and could be classified as an abstract sculpture.

AM: Actually, I saw the piece as containing regular geometric forms in tension with irregular geometric forms. So we are both seeing the tension but are describing it differently.