P.Wharton.

A Series of antiquity.  Sparks of a classical aesthetic 2

Two sisters

Motherhood

A good friend, Marcia once asked me why don’t I create a work dedicated to my mother as it was her faith that had fuelled so many of my works in the past. I’d always thought of the works as a kind of dedication in themselves.

So I thought. And thought. And thought some more. So much came to mind I was overwhelmed. Then I thought as the child I once was.

As a child, I was always digging something up. Making stuff.  Inventing. Returning home wet and muddy from a childhood exploration with a fatally damaged utensil or two appropriated from mum’s kitchen drawer.

It’s only now that I’ve come to realise just how much freedom I had without ever being aware she was always somewhere in the sidelines watching out for me. I guess that’s true freedom. Isabella. My mother. 

Bastet (Bast) is the symbolic embodiment of that motherhood, hence dedicating the two sisters to my mother. And her sister, Connie. 

I especially like this article in the Washington Post on motherhood by Maggie Dawn. It reminds me of myself  as a child.

Washington Post. 
Defining motherhood by Maggie Downs. 

"I’d like to tell you what motherhood means to me, except it’s challenging to sit at my desk while my pockets are full of rocks.

In the four years I have spent as a mom, that’s what I’ve become: I am the rock holder. My pockets are heavy with rocks. Rocks sag in my backpack. They clunk in my coat.

My son finds these rocks and urges me to have them, slips them into my good purse, sweetens the deal with crumbling leaves, an array of sticks, wildflowers, the occasional cicada shell.

He gives me the world. Or tries to."

— Maggie Downs 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2019/05/09/feature/the-protector-the-multitasker-the-holder-of-rocks-10-moms-define-motherhood/

Two sisters

EGYPTIAN MUSEUM

Bastet (Bast)

“Cats were very important to the ancient Egyptians and were even considered to be demi-deities. Not only did they protect the crops and slow the spread of disease by killing rodents, they were also thought to be the physical form of the goddess Bastet. “

Bastet had the Head of a cat and  the body of a female and  was believed to be a protector of women and children from disease and illness.   A symbol  of fertility and pregnancy.  A Protector of the home along with many other things. 

​Two sisters 

_{Cast in a Terracotta and Iron pigment concrete slurry. 
Not suitable for outdoors.}  

_{Terracotta weight 3.066 kg}

_{W 30cm H 30cm D20cm}

_{Iron/black 2.807 kg} 

_{W 30cm H30cm D20cm}

Additional information.

Originally this piece was meant to be just one figure cast in a black slurry mix of Portland cement. The terracotta piece was produced as a test piece to iron out the vacuum process of casting.  On Placing these figures together it became immediately apparent they belonged together.  Inseparable .  Much like my mother and her sister had became. Hence, Two Sisters. Two mothers.  As for which is which I’m not sure. They were much of a likeness.  Much of a kindness. 
 

Two Sisters. 2024

By P Wharton.

On Reflection. Menrfa

_{The making of  On Reflection. Menrfa}

_{Medium/Fibreglass/plywood.}

_{Approximately/W56cm/H27cm/D21cm}

Menrfa

Menrfa

Medium/polished Portland cement.

The last day of winter. Menrfa. 2020

Apex.
The keystone plaque of Menrfa bears the leafless branch of winter. And marks the last day of winter. The point at which light breaks through and we who are here gather up our loss and reach forward.

_{I recall in my youth walking in the woods with my uncle Geoff noting how beautiful the autumn leaves looked. And his reply was something like,   I was once like you, but beauty fades amidst loss and grief.  Although this piece is of the approaching spring, it's a attribute to both him his words and that sunny autumn day.} 
 

_{Uncal Geoff Dawson. Artist, musician and poet.} 

Medium/polished Portland cement. Approximately/W25cm/H38cm/D15cm