CHIMAERA
Haddon Grant’s latest collection of sculptures delves into notions of duality and hybridization, drawing inspiration from the ancient Greek mythological creature, the Chimaera. Expanding on his exploration of cloud-like totems in plaster, he introduces new elements—representational forms suggesting body parts seemingly extracted from their origins, converting the sculptures into Chimaera- like beings.
This series signifies a revival of the artist’s enduring fascination with classical sculptural figures, a subject he studied while in Florence in 2008. It testifies of the artist’s ongoing experimentation with reconciling both abstract and classical styles into a single oeuvre. The first pivotal piece of its kind, Mother, executed in 2019 marks the genesis of this collection. Mother is to Guy Haddon Grant what Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is to Pablo Picasso: a transition.
Haddon Grant deftly plays with textures to emphasize this dual nature. The abstract elements are richly textures, rough, grainy, and organic forms that bear the imprints of the artist’s hand and brushstrokes. In contract, the representational aspects, evoking body parts such as hands, faces, paws, eyes, hors, are meticulously polished, boasting soft, rounded surfaces. As the beholder’s gaze navigates the rhythmic interplay of textures, the artist’s guidance becomes palpable, leading the observer through glimpses of realism amidst the turmoil and chaos of plaster.
The forest of confrontational figures force us to ask questions: what remains of the body, when knowledge is stripped away, but matter and form ? How can we understand ourselves in relation to the passage of time, detached from historical context and function ?