Transient Global Amnesia

Transient Global Amnesia is a series of work created in response to the increasing number of endangered species facing extinction.  

 

 

Trumpetting
Arabescato marble, 65 x 25 x 25cm
2021

Adam and Bee
Statuario marble, 50 x 75 x 10cm
2020

Hand-carved in statuario marble. The bee stinging in the piece is an analogy for the end of man, for when a bee stings it dies, and man can’t survive without its pollinators, thus turning Michelangelo's ‘Creation of Adam’ on it's head.

Like A Stone
Carrara Marble on steel base,  145cm x 44cm x 41cm
2021

This work carved in carrara marble was inspired by the decline of sharks in our oceans. Using the great white shark as an emblem for all sharks, it is seen sinking into the blue steel base.  Along the top of the base laser cut into three sides are words inspired by a line from the Leonard Cohen poem ‘Suzanne’. 

It has been estimated that 100 million sharks are killed every year due to the demand of shark fin soup in Asia, and the commercial fishing industry. As apex predators, sharks play an important role in the ecosystem by maintaining the species below them, if the sharks disappear, the little fish explode in population and this imbalance impacts marine life all the way down the food chain.

Elephantom (ii)
Arabescato marble, 170cm x 110cm x 75cm
2020

This work is carved in Arabescato Marble and is suitable for indoor or outdoors. In this work the two marble forms connected by the steelbase are reminiscent of two large elephant ears with the space between the ears and the base making up the shape of the forehead and the trunk of the Elephant.



Elephantom (i)
Carrara Marble, 64 x 80 x 29 cm
2017

This work in stone is reminiscent of both an elephant trunk and an ammonite fossil and symbolises the threatened status of elephants in the wild today.

POW! (wall hanging)
Statuario marble, 40x65x10
2020

POW! expresses the sound of an explosion, and is also the abbreviation for prisoner of war. In this work the hand giving the finger to the Bee references humanity's ultimate indifference to the demise of our ecology.

POW! pays homage to the pop art movement, in particular Lichtenstein’s comic book strip work which defined the premise of pop art through parody. This work is hand-carved in high-relief from an off-cut of statuario marble found near Carrara.



The Scream 
Carrara Marble, 70 x 41 x 44 cm
2018

The Scream is the open mouth of a hippopotamus carved into a geometrical shape reminiscent of an old TV set.  The work is a reflection of 'nature screaming' with human hands reflecting our part in the demise of many species and a nod to Edvard Munch's 1893 painting of the same title, that was itself inspired by Munch's distress over the ecological impact on his city during the industrial revolution.

 

High and Dry
Breccia Medicea, 60 x 50 x 80 cm
2018

 

This work depicts the head of a blue whale perched on a precipice reflecting the species' precarious position in our ecosystem. The marble, Breccia Medicea, which has been used since Roman times and was favoured by the Medici family, lends itself perfectly to this work with its beautiful water-like markings. Amethyst and quartz are just some of the minerals found in this stone.

Wry?No!
Carrara Marble, 31 x 66 x 10 cm
2018

'Wry?No!' is a sculpture, hand carved in Carrara Marble, that is a commentary on the ills of machismo trophy-hunting and the illegal horn trade; an endeavour that is responsible for decimating the world’s rhino population by more than 90 percent over the past 40 years. The situation is not wry. It is a serious problem. With ground rhino horn being worth more than gold on the illegal rhino horn market, and considered a cure for many common ailments in traditional medicine, the work highlights the fallacy that it can heal. Tragically, the rhino is being sentenced to death. 

The making of Elephantom
Digital work available on Sedition Art

Elephantom is a video work by Emma Elliott which is derived from her sculptural work of the same name. The work is a time-lapsed video of the creation process of the work, accompanied by an ambient soundtrack by Caspar Leopard. The work begins with a solid block of marble that is slowly shaped and carved over 28 days. Other artists work in the background as Elliott chisels and sands the work into its final form.

 

Going Nowhere
Digital Art
Available on Sedition

Going Nowhere is a homage to the plight of Rhinoceroses and Elephants who are being brutalised and marched into extinction for their tusks and horns. In this video Emma plays the Rhino and the human simultaneously, metaphorically linking the human to our fellow animal. The video emphasises that symbiotically, as we share the same planet, what harms the Rhinoceros also harms the human. Human empathy towards the plight of our fellow animal is the theme. The head piece in this video was cast from Emma’s marble sculpture "Wry?No!' that discusses the fallacy that Rhinoceros horn can cure common ailments in traditional medicines, and attacks the machismo attitude of the hunters. Filmed in the hills around the highest town in Somerset, November 2020.