The Point of no Return, 2023
Wood, black tempera, Indian ink, marble
90 (h) x 30 (w) x 30 (d) cm
35 3/8 (h) x 11 3/4 (w) x 11 3/4 (d) in
35 3/8 (h) x 11 3/4 (w) x 11 3/4 (d) in
Further images
A black ladder with a single golden rung balances precariously on one foot on a black marble base. The eye is drawn to the reflective rung that has been water...
A black ladder with a single golden rung balances precariously on one foot on a black marble base.
The eye is drawn to the reflective rung that has been water gilded giving the illusion of being sold gold. The piece would make more sense, in terms of gravity, if the ladder had both feet on the ground and it was propped up against a wall.
Ladders have been used symbolically across various cultures for millennia. There are some scholars who even argue that the ladder reflects ancient knowledge of DNA, whilst for others it’s a symbol of the connection between heaven and earth.
In the modern era Ladders have become complicated symbols tied into our innermost thoughts. Carl Jung (1875 -1961), the Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist, believed that dreams of ladders were connected to our collective unconscious and psychic development. Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856 -1939) stated ‘Staircases, ladders, and flights of stairs, or climbing on these, either upwards or downwards, are symbolic representations of the sexual act.’
Wassall’s sculpture destabilises the physical object before us. Placed on a plinth so that it reaches high above the viewers eyeline, the ladder, with it golden rung, forces us to look up and to see something familiar with a new perspective.
The eye is drawn to the reflective rung that has been water gilded giving the illusion of being sold gold. The piece would make more sense, in terms of gravity, if the ladder had both feet on the ground and it was propped up against a wall.
Ladders have been used symbolically across various cultures for millennia. There are some scholars who even argue that the ladder reflects ancient knowledge of DNA, whilst for others it’s a symbol of the connection between heaven and earth.
In the modern era Ladders have become complicated symbols tied into our innermost thoughts. Carl Jung (1875 -1961), the Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist, believed that dreams of ladders were connected to our collective unconscious and psychic development. Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856 -1939) stated ‘Staircases, ladders, and flights of stairs, or climbing on these, either upwards or downwards, are symbolic representations of the sexual act.’
Wassall’s sculpture destabilises the physical object before us. Placed on a plinth so that it reaches high above the viewers eyeline, the ladder, with it golden rung, forces us to look up and to see something familiar with a new perspective.