Confrontation
Kevin Harrison 1984
No doubt the lesser-seen of Kevin Harrison's two Grizedale works, 'Confrontation' was sited somewhere in the forest, unfortunately I can't be more specific than that at the moment. Here is Harrison himself, however, discussing his time in Grizedale for the publication 'A Sense Of Place - Sculpture In Landscape':
"Coming from my studio in London and working outside everyday in Grizedale, which also housed the world's largest materials stockroom at my disposal, was a liberating experience. I became familiar with a small area of the oak forest where every fallen tree was another potential sculpture. I made two sculptures whilst in Grizdale: The Plague Dog; based on Richard Adams' escape from an animal experimental station and Confrontation; a hare and a pointer locked in a battle of wits.
The picture shows Harrison putting the final touches to the sculpture; in the end, hare and hound were placed a bit further apart, about thirty feet or so.
Photograph by Mike Barker
The two Grizedale artworks came early on in Kevin Harrison's career. His pieces have become simultaneously brighter and darker over the years, as is explained on his website:
"Kevin has always worked in wood, constructing rather than carving. His early work was unpainted, and often represented animals as metaphors for other things. However, the anger of the subject matter seemed sweetened by the beauty of the materials, and he became suspicious of this. He regarded this fortuitous aestheticness as something of a snare and a delusion. He began painting his sculptures to avoid it, and has been doing so ever since."
Also by this artist:
The Plague Dog 1984