Ward Art - Trophy Exhibition

Trophy
Exhibition, University of Joensuu, Finland, June 2003

The kantele is a traditional Finnish stringed instrument. After visiting a local kantele making factory I was given a batch of reject body parts. The exhibition name "Trophy" derived from my interest in silver-birch fungus growths, a defect which causes a burst of small branch shoots to grow in concentrated areas of the tree, known as "witches broom". Often these clusters, resembling birds nests from a distance, grow in the outer reaches of the more mature trees. I would collect these clusters when they fell, their mass out-weighing the main branch, and such was my prize! The combination of kantele frames & mixed media, although not immediately obvious to me, developed as a result of having two sets of materials and thought processes working in close proximity to one another.

Click images to enlarge!

	Item 56 Kantele frames + tap + wood + sawdust 44 x 22 cm
	Item 57 Kantele frames + silver birch + copper nail
	Item 58 Kantele frames + bullet + jewellery boxes + insects + pins
	Item 59 Kantele frames + silver birch sapling
	Item 60 Kantele frames + copper + brass
	Item 61 Kantele frames + pike bone + feather + wood + shoe sole
	Item 62 Kantele frames + brass + iron + wood
	Item 63 Kantele frames + silver birch saplings
	Item 64 Kantele frames + "knitwear" bottle
	Item 65 Kantele frames + silver birch saplings + glass + rubber
	Item 66 Kantele frames + taps + wood + sawdust
	Item 67 Kantele frames + taps
	Item 68 Kantele frames + tap + sink trap + brass + sawdust Side view:

	Item 70 Kantele frames + toothpicks Side view: