Expressions of interest accepted. Sculpture is one of my entries in the 2021 Gippsland sculpture prize , March 21 – May 9th

The Band is a set of 4 painted, wooden and mixed media sculptures portraying a group of musicians typical of the Greek Blues known as the Rebetika.: a clarinet and bouzouki player, singers and a baglama player, a violinist and a Politiki lyra player (they are each approx. 12 x 30 x 10 cm).

Inspiration for this work came after experiencing first hand a local, regular Rebetiko music jam.  went on to explore its culture, history and its influence on the Greek diaspora through numerous paintings and sculptures presented in a solo exhibition titled: A Brush With The Blues, held in Melbourne, Australia in February, 2020.The Band was one of several sculptural pieces that debuted in that show. Rebetiko music, for those that don’t know, originated in the early 20th Century in Asia Minor and Greece. Its history is enriched with cosmopolitan life and cross-cultural influences and at the same time burdened with war, conflict, forced mass migration and suffering. i was very drawn to how the the refugee experience teamed with urban Greek culture produced a creative and highly expressive genre.

The sculptures were made from recycled wood blocks and the positive and negative shapes of the wood inspired an assemblage approach. I kept the natural finish of all wood elements, whether rough or smooth, to retain a rustic, spontaneous and raw character. A fitting metaphor for the musicians of the early Rebetika who at the time were outcasts and even considered outlaws in modern Greek society. The 4 sculptures can be hung on the wall or stand freely on a surface. There are in fact numerous ways they can be displayed for example: can be hung in a cross formation; positioned in a row, in groups of two and hung at different levels. There are details only seen from certain angles, reflecting the combination of the icongraphic style of painting on their surface and the robust 3D nature of these unique sculptures.

In closing, one of the four sculptures makes reference to a famous and widely respected musician and composer Vassilis Tsitsanis. The lyrics coming out of the figures mouths: one in English and the other in Greek, is a line out of a popular song that mentions him. More photos of THE BAND can be seen in my moderniconart site