This new work, which dates roughly from my participation in the show in January 2017 at the Crypt Gallery at Norwich School, represents a new departure for me in that it shifts the subject matter away from the surreal aspect of agricultural tools, towards a redefining of the relationship between the 'handle' and the tool.

I have discovered a strong link to the head, to African sculpture and to masks in particular.

The handle has become subjugated to the abstract image of the tool in such a way that it serves a quite different function, at once decorative but also powerfully evocative.

Very recently, I have begun to explore an entirely new (to me) subject matter where the whole sculpture becomes quite surreal, zoomorphic and almost animated. I have used colour to try to link the new work with my particular interest in Italian mediaeval architecture.

Bob Catchpole.
November 2017.