Label Text:
Metcalf started studying blacksmithing, silversmithing, and engraving in London in 1950 and continued in the mid-1950s to study ancient metalwork techniques in Spain, Italy, and Greece. A Reliquary to the New Moon
combines the spirit of ancient Mediterranean metalwork with the ornamental qualities of Celtic designs, with their reverse ‘S’ coils, spirals and scrolls. The artist experimented with various techniques on different parts of the
sculpture, casting the rod and most of the upper part while working the metal with tools to create the coils. The combination of these techniques results in an enigmatic composition. Many images seem to lie within the complex structure, a quality associated with Surrealism, an intellectual movement that generated art on the basis of chance and unconsciousness, therefore elevating it beyond reason and logic. The title, A Reliquary to the New Moon, refers to the new moon as a symbol of the unconscious cherished by the Surrealists. BJ
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2007.20 |
