Ben
Arnold - Sculptor
Ben Arnold is a sculptor and long
standing friend of the centre who
initially studies under Cecil Skotnes
in the Polly Street Art School and
now works at the Bag Factory. His
sculptures impart a sense of history
as well as an aura of spiritual intent
that derives from his perspective
as a Muslim.
The array of sculptures on display
at the Bag Factory in an exhibition
titled Voyage, immediately intrigue
the viewer, since the forms are abstract
and yet also referential. This is
a feeling that the artist is mediating
his artistic expression and allowing
it to formulate in abstract terms.
For instance, the powerful Germination
Series makes reference to the earth
and the possibilities of growth but
the forms used to express the idea
seem also mathematically inspired.
These are angular terracotta arches
over a form reminiscent of the dolos
used to stem the tidal erosion on
shorelines.
Arnold chooses to contrast different
emotions that engage in dialogue with
one another. The treatment of one
element will be scarified and rough
while another is polished. Rhythms
run through both, engaging in polymorphic
discourse.
Many of the works inhabit a style
that gained prominence during the
sixties and consisted of rounded,
interlocking shaped derived from abstracting
a figure. Henry Moore was perhaps
the original inspiration for these
soft flowing sculptures. Arnold uses
the style emotionally, so sculpture
with titles like Grief and Idle Dreams
use the figuration to escape into
abstraction.
Muslim beliefs forbid idolatry and
proscribe the range of artistic expression
in much the same way as Judaism. American
Abstract Expressionism was very influenced
by this religious tendency.
However, Arnold’s work is intriguing,
and brings to mind Plato’s idea
of the evolution of form from a mathematical
abstraction to the object experienced
in reality.
Arnold’s wall pieces, called
Forest Floor Series or the Four Seasons,
have these strange shapes that seem
to be precursors of experienced forms,
like stones or plants. Sometimes they
almost depict the passage of energy
that could ultimately manifest as
an object.
Rough discs seem like squashed dough
platelets and give the impression
of the artist almost willing his mind
away from expression and allowing
his fingers to reach a moment of primal
form. It is not child-like of naïve,
however, and the contrasting shapes
establish a lyricism of being and
not being.
At once it is a circle or an ellipse
and yet also a stem or a direction.
Ashley Johnson
Art & Leisure – Business
Day
28/07/03 |
