Apollo – “The Explorer” The Iron Clocks

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19620010large A unique creation story in the artist’s own words…

When I told my wife about my Iron Clock dream, she thought that I had a mantle clock in mind! Instead, as you can see from this lovely Iron Clock, I created a timepiece on a far larger scale.

I woke up one night staring hard at the curtains in our bedroom, focussing on the way the material folds and overlaps. My thoughts were all muddled up at the time – something about working with hot iron, and how everything deteriorates as part of the natural cycle of life.

The next morning, I started work early and allowed all of these feelings and ideas to pour into my work. Many months later, I completed my first Iron Clock.

Working on this, my fourth clock in the Iron Clock series, it struck me how visitors to my workshop all have their own associations. I suppose this is partly because Iron Clocks are a completely new concept, never seen before. And also because people like to experience my work – looking, touching and talking about each piece.

For me, my Iron Clocks have a human form. Their proportions fit the proportions of people, flexing at the “neck” and tilting at “waist” height, for example. Each Iron Clock is special and different from the others, and no two faces are the same. This means that the complex leaded glass door must be hand crafted to pick out the unique shape of each face.

When it was time to say goodbye to this completed Iron Clock, I added my name with pride to the back and to its face. And I took great pleasure in hand polishing the entire piece one last time.

- Mark Avis

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1 comment for this entry:
  1. DC
    April 1st, 2009 on 10:19 am

    ‘Melting, time ebbing, Miss Haversham – I love it!
    (DC, Essex)

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Time is an Abstract Concept

Born in 1966, Mark is a contemporary artist, based in Newark, Nottinghamshire, who designs inspirational clocks made from steel. Influenced by Gaudi and Spanish surrealist, Dali, Mark began to conceive an image of a melting clock, created from iron, but sculpted to large proportions. His first Iron Clock in the series, known as 'Gaia', was completed nearly four years ago.

Mark has produced a series of six sculptures to date, which have attracted tremendous interest and critical acclaim. Each sculpture is original, shaped with distinctive markings that, when viewed as a whole, represent what Mark refers to as 'a human form fitting the proportions of people'.

With each Iron Clock, Mark has distorted the notion of time by creating an incredible melting effect that is both visually arresting and technically superb. As the series has progressed, Mark's artistic vision has become increasingly complex, inviting different interpretations as more intricate detail is added. This creates additional depth and dimension to each new sculpture, that further disrupts our traditional concept of time as each Iron Clock tells its own individual story.

Fragmentation contrasts sharply with fluidity in his latest creation 'Cronus', where the juxtaposition of time and nature are beautifully realised.

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