Walking Forwards Sculpture

The sculpture "Walking Forwards" (Drone Resin, cast, edition of 9) describes a caring and supportive relationship, the kind of human contact we are dependent on for our well-being .The dynamic two figures express the strong bonds of friendship , empathy and solidarity, and the active commitment and energy necessary for helping or enabling someone else . As the frontal figure seems to move proudly and joyously away from the back figure, there is also a quality of letting go of the person one supports: a similar position to a parent, teacher or medical professional who raises/teaches/nurtures/heals another human being, in order to help, rescue and see them enriched or improved - and then healthily and happily leave! Despite their different roles - of a supporting back figure and enabled frontal figure - the two figures are similar in shape , with no distinguishing facial features; this indicates their similar nature. The roles of helper and helped are not fixed but interchangeable , constantly shifting , and can be reciprocal: we fulfil both roles in life . The two figures are conjoined at the hip, to indicate their close bond, and mutual dependency, as if running a three legged race . Indeed, they might be made “from the same stuff’, the common nature that we share with all humans, and the solid basis of empathy. The sculpture could form a centerpiece of a private garden; or it would be equally well positioned in public places or in front of institutions that have the care for human beings at its heart: schools, universities, village or church halls, mental health or a doctor’s surgeries, or charities concerned with caring.