As a figurative sculptor who uses traditional techniques of hand-carved timber, Stephen Hart’s work is somewhat unusual in the increasingly digitally driven methods of contemporary art. His works, which consist of meticulously carved wooden figures, explores the virtues of the human condition – not a small undertaking, but a concept Hart approaches with skill, empathy, and optimism.
An ongoing pensiveness has prevailed through Hart’s career which evokes a thorough thoughtfulness and deep contemplation about who we are and what our roles in the world are. Hart’s previous works have involved recurring motifs, such as the rabbit, the ‘everyman’, or elements of the built environment such as the crane. Through these subjects Hart projects questions about the human condition, such as life and death, good and evil, and repetitive life cycles, or perhaps asks if these questions are in fact quite trivial – as often quite whimsical expressions accompany his detailed compositions.
‘Fellow Humans’, Hart’s upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane, however, takes a more specifically personal focus. In this body of work, Hart has selected a group of his immediate fellow humans, who all have some sort of connection to him, whether family, friends, or professional acquaintances. For this body of work Hart has used 3D digital imagery to capture his subjects in 12 positions with a 360-degree rotation, before carving each figure by hand, meaning the results are of uncanny resemblance yet retain an element of the hand-made.
The subjects range from Hart’s family connections – his daughter, wife, grandson, and son in law, to several prominent figures in Brisbane and Sydney’s contemporary art circles, such as Michael Zavros, Judith Wright, Stephen Nothling, Louise Martin-Chew and Fiona Foley, with whom Hart shares artistic experiences as well as friendships. The group also includes identities slightly removed from Hart’s immediate life, such as architect Robert Riddel, who is an influence to Hart and a distinctive figure to Brisbane’s cultural scene. Also included is Dr. Jayant Patel, who Hart reached out to in order to personally connect with his story, with in an interest the difference between real people and how the media portray them. Through this selection of people, their stories, and how Hart came to connect with them, Hart interweaves his personal story, with both his artistic career and his personal life and interests traced through his connections to others.
Hart says that he hopes to prompt viewers to consider who would be in a circle of fellow humans of their choice. While at first this may seem a simple proposition, after some thought it can spiral into a chain of questions about our personal relationships, the way social and cultural circles develop and evolve, and consequently how this influences our own lives in return. Why do we choose the people we do, and who might be likely to choose us? How are the people we choose connected to each other, and how do these connections extend further into society?
Stephen Hart’s work holds a beautiful connection to traditional mastery as well as the courage to investigate and conceptualise such huge concepts involved with the human condition. In ‘Fellow Humans’, this is achieved through a distinctly personal venture which reflects back on viewers as they ask themselves some important and often overlooked questions about their circles of fellow humans and what these connections mean in terms of greater societal contexts. Hart captures one strand of how the meaning of our lives can be grasped through the simplicity of who we know.
Museum of Brisbane
Until 2 March, 2014
Queensland
Fellow Humans, 2013, polychrome, recycled ironbark and jelutong timber, dimensions variable
Courtesy of Museum of Brisbane
Photography: Chelsea Sipthorp
