Steve Dilworth

Description

The hooded crow, one of nature's most despised birds, is familiar to Steve Dilworth, as he lives on the Isle of Harris where they abound. Through time they have become dear to him. Both materials and subject-matter in Dilworth's sculpture and works on paper are invariably drawn from his island home. He has always preferred to work in combinations of materials, as he finds that either their similarities or differences can offer dynamic qualities. Following Heart of the Thief, a sculpture in which he welded coins, ground them level and polished them so that the metals appeared to flow into one another, Dream Container represents for him a new mix of metals. Dilworth has used the opportunity offered by Goodwood to develop his work in bronze and nickel silver materials that he may not otherwise have used.

An articulated limpet shell inspired the outer form of the sculpture, and as he began to build it, themes of protection, mother and child, birth and death, the chicken and the egg (which came first?) became clearer. Placed protectively within the heart of Dream Container in a small sarcophagus - a time capsule - is the mummified body of a hooded crow, properly bound like a late Egyptian Pharaoh. The intricate web of the skeletal backbone and silver vertebrae inside the shell give further protection to the crow. These silver strands are bonded with the bronze to establish areas of silver in curving sweeps over the outer surface of the sculpture. Dilworth claims that the sculpture is an elaborate protection to ensure the crow's survival. 'I work intuitively,' he says 'and in time Dream Container will reveal more to me. I guess it has completely different resonances for others, all valid.' Resonances that spring to mind are the sculptures of Henry Moore, in which he used hard, outer forms to protect inner vulnerable ones, particularly his Helmet Heads and Mother and Child series.