PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES GLOSSOP FOR THE TIMES Sculptor Andrew Kinghorn works on “Wayside Cross from a Warzone” – a large-scale depiction of a crucifix surrounded by assorted debris – at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. “My sculpture tries to depict an altar or wayside shrine during a time of social collapse. The shrine has been cobbled together from the debris of destroyed lives and people on the move – a railway sleeper forms the cross, a shop mannequin becomes an image of Christ. Incongruous objects like a battered suitcase, a car tyre, a soldier’s helmet, a stiletto shoe or batteries have been left as offerings, as have fruit and vegetables.” 14-12-16
WAYSIDE CROSS FOR A WAR ZONE – A RESPONSE TO SYRIA
Seeing the devastation and desperation caused by the war in Syria, or indeed in any community of any culture or ethnicity, I wondered how people might seek compassion or mercy from elsewhere, even from a forgotten or disregarded deity, in this instance Christian. Perhaps shrines would be built of the detritus, and votive offerings, comprised of everyday commonplace objects, left. The sculpture is a reflection of how we would behave if our world was reduced to rubble and death and chaos stalked us.
This is another sculpture made of bronze and steel.
