Ann Carrington

Devil’s Trumpet is a modern day memento mori (Latin for ‘remember you will die’). Inspired by Dutch still lives of the 16th and 17th Century where the pictures team with precious objects testifying to the pleasures of life and the flow of time, such as a pocket watch, a pewter mug, a vase of flowers, a set table. In this sculpture the flowers are constructed from silver plated spoons, pewter tankards, silver vases and plates – the contents of a 16th century Dutch still life reassembled in another dimension and time. Devil’s Trumpet is inspired by Grinling Gibbons the famous wood carver of the 17th Century who was celebrated for his sculpture garlands featuring cascades of fruit.

This sculpture was originally commissioned as an installation for the ‘Pop goes the Weasel’ exhibition at The Royal College of Art in July 2016 and is now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Blowball Bluebell is a modern day memento mori. (Latin for ‘remember you will die’). Inspired by Dutch still lives of the 16^th and 17^th Century where the pictures team with precious objects testifying to the pleasures of life and the flow of time, such as a pocket watch, a pewter mug, a vase of flowers, a set table. In this sculpture the flowers are constructed from silver plated spoons, pewter tankards, silver vases and plates – the contents of a 16^th century Dutch still life  reassembled in another dimension and time. Blowball Bluebell is inspired by Grinling Gibbons the famous wood carver of the 17th Century who was celebrated for his sculpture garlands featuring cascades of fruit.

Honey Spurge a modern day memento mori (Latin for ‘remember you will die’). Inspired by Dutch still lives of the 16^th and 17^th Century where the pictures team with precious objects testifying to the pleasures of life and the flow of time, such as a pocket watch, a pewter mug, a vase of flowers, a set table. In this sculpture the flowers are constructed from silver plated spoons, pewter tankards, silver vases and plates – the contents of a 16^th century Dutch still life reassembled in another dimension and time. A pewter tankard has been ‘peeled’ like an orange to form a bow, and silver plated goblets are manipulated into the petals of a honey spurge . Honey Spurge is the name of a Dutch tulip.

Viper’s Bugloss is a modern day memento mori (Latin for ‘remember you will die’). Inspired by Dutch still lives of the 16^th and 17^th Century where the pictures team with precious objects testifying to the pleasures of life and the flow of time, such as a pocket watch, a pewter mug, a vase of flowers, a set table. In Viper’s Bugloss the flowers are constructed from silver plated spoons, pewter tankards, silver vases and plates – the contents of a 16^th century Dutch still life reassembled in another dimension and time. A pewter tankard has been ‘peeled’ like an orange to form a bow and silver plated platters are beaten flat to make the petals of Viper’s Bugloss. Viper’s Bugloss is the name of a poisonous flower.

Curate’s Egg is a modern day memento mori. (Latin for ‘remember you will die’). Inspired by Dutch still lives of the 16^th and 17^th Century where the pictures team with precious objects testifying to the pleasures of life and the flow of time, such as a pocket watch, a pewter mug, a vase of flowers, a set table. In this sculpture the flowers are constructed in the form of a garland from silver plated spoons, pewter tankards, silver vases and plates – the contents of a 16^th century Dutch still life reassembled in another dimension and time. Curate’s Egg  is the name of a dutch tulip.

Bosschaert’s Blossom is a modern day memento mori. (Latin for ‘remember you will die’). Inspired by Dutch still lives of the 16^th and 17^th Century where the pictures team with precious objects testifying to the pleasures of life and the flow of time, such as a pocket watch, a pewter mug, a vase of flowers, a set table. In this sculpture the flowers are constructed from silver plated spoons, pewter tankards, silver vases and plates – the contents of a 16^th century Dutch still life  reassembled in another dimension and time. Bosschaert’s Blossom is inspired by the famous Dutch flower painter Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder who was painting in Holland in the 16th Century. This sculpture is an interpretation of one of my favourite paintings by Bosschaert : A Still Life of Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase.

All objects come with their own readymade histories and associations that can be unravelled and explored by rearranging, distorting or realigned to give new meaning as sculpture. Riotous scribbled coils of thorny barbed wire are teased, tamed and pummelled to produce blossoms fulfilling  the sculptural destiny of barbed wire.

The tools of a painter – brush palette and paint (usually employed in the art of 3d illusion) assembled to make a sculpture, a butterfly sculpture. In place of paint is molten metal arranged like the metallic wings of the Vapourer butterfly. Its about being an artist flitting between painting and sculpture, a bit all over the place.