Yes! is the second of my Yes sculptures (See TheYes Sculpture in earlier blog post). This is the first carved sculpture made at Wamboin.
The sculpture was made from material gifted to me by Janet Laurence. Heartshock / After Nature, was a work made by her and shown at The MCA in 2019. I have respected what she was doing in that work and added my voice. We have a common regard for the surface markings made by earlier inhabitants of the tree.
Heartshock/After Nature 2019 Janet Laurence MCA
From its earlier reclining position, I have made the log of the tree stand vertically and inverted it, so that it stands freely. I have carved one word, constituting three letters, which face different directions. This aids its three dimensional standing and in so doing, addresses everyone in the room.
Between each letter there is a breath of the tree from which the carving is made. We are reminded from where it came, from what it spoke, with its whispering persistent voice.
That carved word is Yes, which follows other recent work which celebrates emerging Indigenous recognition and respect.
Yes! Carved hardwood 78cm x 120cm x 280cm
The image above shows the work deep-etched to give a better sense of the sculpture outside the studio.
Several attempts to show the work in time for the referendum have failed which makes this work a record of the times and the spirit in which it was made.
Toby Ralph is an advertising guru employed to analyse where the selling of the referendum failed. He has made the point that if you can’t explain it, singing it won’t sell the idea better. I disagree with that sentiment. Sometimes we need to be lifted when reason is not strong enough.
These notes were on the label to accompany The Voice sculpture in The Wynne Prize, which is touring NSW in 2023.
‘This is the sound of The Voice, which has been speaking to me for nearly 250 years, nearly a quarter of a millennium.
I have been reluctant to listen, distracted by the task of finding myself in this place.
I have been reluctant to hear The Voice even while all that time The Voice was speaking, singing, waiting for me to hear it.
The Voice doesn’t shout. It draws you in, and as you listen to it, you find yourself more at home.
You may have run here, but from this place you will not need to run away.
This work is the shape of my listening.’
Yes! Carved hardwood 78cm x 120cm x 280cm