RSA Scottish Art
Sleeping Head
 | Artist: Jake Harvey |
| Title: Sleeping Head | |
| Year: 1986 | |
| Medium: forged steel and found objects | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA Diploma Collection | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| © the artist | |
| Description: Jake Harvey lives and works in the Borders and often creates sculptures using found objects. Sleeping Head belongs to a series of heads that he has worked on throughout his career. In contrast to his large-scale, two-dimensional work (such as his 1985 Hugh MacDiarmid Memorial, sited near Langholm in the Borders) this piece is fully three-dimensional and can be viewed from all angles. Constructed from scraps of metal found in the countryside, it provides a link with the sculptor's rural background. This piece is made from welded objects such as the spanner forming the mouth, pieces of pipe acting as long hair, and a cogwheel at the base of the neck. Some welding marks have been used to represent the eye, or a wavy line suggesting hair. The rough, pitted surface over some of the metal has been left visible, and the entire piece has been finished in a gloss black which reflects highlights and allows deep shadows to develop. The title of this piece contrasts strongly with the materials used to create it. Rather than soft, pliant materials that can be moulded to the contours of a sleeping head, Harvey has used hard industrial substances with rough edges and sharp, straight lines. This incompatible choice urges the viewer to consider the nature of the object and what it represents. This shows us the transformative nature of some types of sculpture that takes materials with certain qualities and changes the way we think about them. Other forms of sculpture favour the approach of truth to materials - using a substance and elevating the qualities of that substance over other considerations of the sculpture. Imagine using materials such as steel, clay, feathers or sand in a sculptural piece. How would you use these materials to transform their apparent qualities, and how would you use them to enhance our awareness of their qualities? | |
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