Starcatcher catches stardust, in a nocturnal sky full of falling meteorites. I made this sculpture from lime wood in 2024.
It is a sculpture that began with finding an old woodcut from 1888, made by Adolf Vollmy. The inspiration was the gigantic meteor shower (Leonids) that passed the east coast of the United States on the night of November 12, 1883. People panicked and ran into the streets. Especially believers cried that ‘the end of the world’ had come, as announced in the Bible. The woodcut of this ‘Apocalypse’ was therefore printed in a book by American Adventists, the ‘Bible Readings for the Home Circle‘.
The end of the world
Fascinating that ‘the end of the world’ has proven to be a persistent theme through the centuries, constantly fed by current events. Today the exhaustion and destruction of natural resources is the cause for predictions of the end of humanity. Even scientists dare to claim that we humans will not last millions of years. That would be shorter than the dinosaurs, who populated the earth for about 165 million years. ‘Homo sapiens’ has only existed for 300 thousand years.
“Angels surround everyone”
In 2023 I also discovered Esther Rose, an American singer from the alternative country circuit. With her laughing voice she released a beautiful album: Safe to Run. For the title track she recorded a music video for YouTube. At one point she sits on the roof of a moving car, arms raised high, as if she has wings. Her lyrics are also about the water that is beginning to surround us – as a result of the melting ice caps: ‘You know there is no place. Safe to run. Angels surround everyone.’
A book as fluttering wings
I wanted to combine those two images in ‘Starcatcher’; the meteor shower with an upward-looking singer who believes herself surrounded by angels. The meteorites as an illustration in a large open wooden book, fluttering, like wings. The singer floating in front of it.
But gradually the singer changed. First into an Olympic swimming champion, powerfully muscled with broad shoulders. And then, when I didn’t work out the hair but left it hidden in a high cap, the association with an Egyptian priestess arose. Especially after I gilded the cap with a paper-thin layer of gold leaf. But a priestess wearing the red dress of a nightclub singer.
Deliberate historical falsification
‘Starcatcher’ thus became my commentary on all the deliberate miscommunication and historical falsification on the internet and in the media. ‘Alternative facts’ are the fairy tales of our time, with plenty of people who still believe in them. I find that difficult. Esther Rose didn’t experience the meteor shower of 1883 either. And certainly not her sexy alter ego from Egypt before our era.
Surrealism as an answer
Surrealism is, I hope, a good answer to the deliberate falsification of history and facts that has now taken such a large flight.
