They come courtesy of the accomplished, talented, generous, sublime artist Catharyne Ward. They could not be any more beautiful or have more resonance. Here's what she says:
"I have in essence a pair of hand-held standards with the bases made from caste glass: a woman's hand holding a vessel or torch, painted inside with enamels. The pierced brass erect baton, sitting in its cushion of 'cream' was made from a material sourced to replicate the Olympic torch. The injected foam taking on its own rampant life to squeeze and project its way through the multitude of holes.
The larger, standard-bearing piece, is made from brass plates. These I use a lot in my work, mostly with Eric Wright (he got this one soldered). Using this material over the pierced brass represented something that had a history: this was from some old boot-fair or other; it had probably hung in a pub's public bar previously; it had seen some acts of lunacy; and it's got people depicted eating, drinking and misbehaving. So it's about community, it's about what we've lost in the East End. It's got a big ol' head of foam thats like from a massive keg of beer or a huge plume of smoke - your choice! It's handle is a cast metal piece in a Roman Empire style, that came off my mighty two-bar electric fire which I worshipped religiously 20 years back. It was evidently waiting this long for its perfect entrance into public life."
Wondrous to behold!
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