Some time ago I decided to try a different, more experimental approach to sculpting. Rather than applying my usual method of creating a sculpture, where I’d work out (through sketches and, for want of a better word, daydreaming) in advance what I wanted the finished piece to look like, I thought I’d play about with combinations of different materials and found objects, and see if anything promising emerged. I called the resulting artefacts my ‘component sculptures’ or ‘component pieces’. Many of these pieces didn’t really lead to much, apart from giving me a few new visual connections to store in my head for potential future use, along with boxes full of odd-shaped objects that might, at some later date, find their way into larger component sculptures.
'Crab Doll Chapel', sculpture by artist Wayne Chisnall
One of these component sculptures that did become something more substantial was Crab Doll Chapel. It started out with a broken, antique doll’s head that I found, to which I then added some dead crabs’ legs (found whilst beach combing); intending it to look like a cross between a demented hermit crab and an alien parasite, emerging from the doll’s shattered head.
'Crab Doll Chapel' (detail), sculpture by artist Wayne Chisnall
This odd combination of materials then sat around for a while before I had the idea to build a wooden framework structure around it. Initially, this was to create a physical barrier to protect the fragile crab legs from getting accidentally damaged. However, the structure soon took on a kind of church-like appearance. Because of the protective nature of the wooden structure and its cathedral pretentions, I partly see it as a reliquary, with doll’s head and crab legs standing in for the bones of some old saint or a piece of the original cross (acknowledging that most reliquaries probably also contain as equally in-authentically sacred materials as mine does - although, that's also part of their charm).
'Crab Doll Chapel', sculpture by artist Wayne Chisnall
Like many unexpected creative directions that artworks can take, it’s hard to work out if they are the results of subconscious thoughts or whether the initial developmental stages of the work provokes ideas that then govern the direction and meaning of the work. Either way, I enjoy this way of working as it leads to new or unexpected artworks and results in me questioning my practice and my psyche.
'Crab Doll Chapel', sculpture by artist Wayne Chisnall