October-November 2005
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Albert Chen
Title: Anthropoid Medium: Fiberglass Dimention: 65x123x29cm Date: 2005
Artist's statement:
The human figure in sculpture as a form of representation has never reached its limits as predicted by Modernists during the early 1900's. In fact the human figure is a subject that has stood the test of time by all human cultures as a form of self-identification. Its association with culture, tradition and history means it has boundless possibility for artistic creativity. The only limit that can be imposed on it is one's own vision.
Dave Tacon
Artist's statement:
In early 2004, I spent 6 weeks in Sierra Leone, West Africa arguably the most impoverished country in the world – a nation still struggling to recover from 10 years of war.
Although my photographs put some focus on the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a UN-backed war crimes court designed to bring retributive justice to the worst human rights violators of the civil conflict, my photographs are also representative of places and people scarred by war and in the grip of poverty and insecurity. For the majority of Sierra Leoneans, life is first and foremost a daily struggle to get by.
Yet I have also attempted to portray, in glimpses, the existence of a potential to overcome adversity. This potential often manifests itself in very subtle ways: for instance through the glimmer in someone's eye. Admittedly it is a limited potential, but it is there in spirit when one looks closely enough.