Family Conversations – my father’s lemon tree

‘Family Conversations – my father’s lemon tree’ is one of a group of conversational sculptural pieces that were made in 2021. They all include three elements or individual pieces that make up the group: ‘Three represents the triad of family; male, female, and child; beginning, middle, and end; birth, life, and death’. Each of the individual pieces are bound by strips of old rubber gloves, binding and holding together the different elements. The work investigates materiality through aesthetic and material juxtapositions. Central to the piece is a lemon my father grew during lockdown. Lemons are considered a symbol of longevity, purification, love, and friendship, and other times it is seen to be symbolic of bitterness and disappointment.