Billy Lee

Description

At first glace, the smooth forms of Kiss appear to be dancing, drawn together by a magnetic force. A closer inspection reveals a more intimate stance, leaning towards one another with purpose. The two sleek and simple forms create their own world of interaction, the resultant mood barring the pressures of the outside world. Standing taller than the viewer, Kiss is inviting rather than imposing. The abstracted form and the delicate balancing act create an air of calm about the piece. Though sculpted from granite, Lee has created a surface texture that undermines the weight of the stone, rendering the objects sublime and otherworldly. The two halves support each other yet the impression is one of movement; a glancing kiss, a light touch. Not interdependence and instability but rather a perfect, Zen-like balance of emotion and physicality.

Without facial features or, indeed, bodies, these platelet-like shapes nevertheless manage to convey human feeling. As the viewer circles around the work, echoes of love, trust and the joy of relationships abound, the sculpture acting as a focal point; a familiar moment revisited and explored anew. The contrasting colours of the stone draw the eye into the embrace, encouraging us to intrude on this captured moment of affectionate expression. In Kiss Lee has created a modern version of Rodin's famous work. With greater economy of means, Lee has achieved the same expressive quality, conveying one of the most basic modes of human expression with subtlety and emotion.