"The title Killing Time refers to the sense of life stilled in art, to the act of remembering and recording something from the artist's past, and to the time spent on carving this labour-intensive sculpture. I found this work fascinating for how it reinvents and reiterates the genre of still-life painting. The pale monochrome timber seems utterly contemporary while the subject matter of an abundance of seafood is centuries old."
(Wayne Tunnicliffe, 2011, The Aust)
Swallow first became "world famous" at 2005 Venice Biennale when he exhibited this art work. Previously, he had created artworks based on retro items but this artwork was considered on a new level. This artwork is considered the most ambitious piece of Swallow's. It is
considered an onerous and time consuming physical ask as this piece was worked on in such detail. This piece is essentially symbolic of a mixture of synthesised interest in passing, personal and collective memories, everyday experiences and history of art.
"I think that if things come from a place that is more curious and intimate, then they also have that relationship with the viewer and that can be a bit more successful than being 'the dude' all the time."
Ricky Swallow, 2004, The Age
Swallow built this art piece under this concept and idea of being. Some critics have said that this piece of art links with the last supper. Swallow's is the son of a fisherman and the art piece depicts every sea creature that he has captured and killed for food and displays in on a depiction of a family table. This is significant as it is presenting a personal art of remembrance. It also allows audiences the opportunity to relate to the art work as it is a specific memory displayed in a recognisable subject matter.
A truly interesting to Swallows piece is that Swallow is self taught in woodcarving through a craft book. This artwork took 6 months for Swallows to create. The materials used for this artwork is laminated jelutong, which is pale coloured hardwood. Using such a pale colour wood creates a sense of all life being bleached out of the scene. The monochromatic timber and the side lighting points to a native unreality of transcribing animate form into inanimate materials. The lighting also creates the impression of it resembling a Dutch still life painting. This artwork was
created by carving the top of the table from one piece of timber, with all of the seafood carved down from that chunk of wood.
(Wayne Tunnicliffe, 2011, The Aust)
Swallow first became "world famous" at 2005 Venice Biennale when he exhibited this art work. Previously, he had created artworks based on retro items but this artwork was considered on a new level. This artwork is considered the most ambitious piece of Swallow's. It is
considered an onerous and time consuming physical ask as this piece was worked on in such detail. This piece is essentially symbolic of a mixture of synthesised interest in passing, personal and collective memories, everyday experiences and history of art.
"I think that if things come from a place that is more curious and intimate, then they also have that relationship with the viewer and that can be a bit more successful than being 'the dude' all the time."
Ricky Swallow, 2004, The Age
Swallow built this art piece under this concept and idea of being. Some critics have said that this piece of art links with the last supper. Swallow's is the son of a fisherman and the art piece depicts every sea creature that he has captured and killed for food and displays in on a depiction of a family table. This is significant as it is presenting a personal art of remembrance. It also allows audiences the opportunity to relate to the art work as it is a specific memory displayed in a recognisable subject matter.
A truly interesting to Swallows piece is that Swallow is self taught in woodcarving through a craft book. This artwork took 6 months for Swallows to create. The materials used for this artwork is laminated jelutong, which is pale coloured hardwood. Using such a pale colour wood creates a sense of all life being bleached out of the scene. The monochromatic timber and the side lighting points to a native unreality of transcribing animate form into inanimate materials. The lighting also creates the impression of it resembling a Dutch still life painting. This artwork was
created by carving the top of the table from one piece of timber, with all of the seafood carved down from that chunk of wood.