in touch Intercontinental Sculpture

in touch
intercontinental
The Siren’s Calling
Installation finished fall 2020
Queen’s Marque in
Halifax, NS
Sculpture
Foundry visit :
Polich Tallix Foundry
Value
Systems
John Greer’s
investigations
into the value of
art, ideas and
money as an
abstract concept.
on form 2020
unlocked:
New works by
Vanessa
Paschakarnis
on view in 2021
Stairs to heaven
Construcion proceeds
in our Studio Paradiso
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Issue 1 / winter 20/21 ... © Interontinental Sculpture Inc.

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The beautiful stillness
behind everything
is tempered by our reflective presence.
John Greer / The Sirens’ Calling, 2020
Pietrasanta, Italy
December 2020
Despite a global pandemic we had an eventful year 2020, crossing the Atlantic three
times. As our name suggests, Intercontinental Sculpture has two places to call home:
East LaHave, NS, Canada and Pietrasanta (LU) Italy. This first issue of our in touch magazine
has been a brainchild of mine for a number of years. It will start as an online and/
or digital version with our first edition, but my heart is set to eventually print it, too, in a
small paper edition.
In touch Intercontinental Sculpture is an effort to stay connected with those that may
care of what John Greer and myself have going on. We both are pushers and don’t wait
too long when a good idea goes through our collective heads.
In this first issue winter 20/21 I am including five features mostly in English, but a bit of
Italian, too. Starting with new sculpture by Vanessa for on form 2020 in England, the
Shield and the Bestia Umana (Horned Being). The installation of The Siren’s Calling at
Queen’s Marque in Halifax, NS finalized our first and hopefully not last public work for
this exciting new development at the waterfront, all documented by our friend and colleague
Raoul Manuel Schnell. I included also an update on the construction of our custodian
apartment at Studio Paradiso.
John’s ongoing series of work dealing with value systems was something on my mind
these days and I am trying to offer you an overview and insight into his thinking. Last,
but not least you get to see images of our foundry visit at Polich Tallix Foundry in Upstate
New York at the end of January 2020 in order to sign off one set of these photogenic
Sirens.
I truly hope you enjoy this magazine because I poured my heart into it, trying to make
our life and art a bit more transparent and hopefully also engaging.
Yours truly,
Vanessa Paschakarnis
www.intercontinentalsculpture.com info@intercontinentalsculpture.com
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This & That
Lavender is growing nicely in
our yard at Studio Paradiso.
Pizza orders delivered by a masked
man in blue gloves were the highlights
of our lockdown(s) in Italy.
John at Mauro Marmi
checking in on a CNC cutting
done for him “The Sleeper” in
Rosa Portugale. Note also how he
utilizes the beautiful natural seem
of the stone.
Pietrasanta reflected in a golden
glass of wine!
My goldfish are happy and healthy ;o)
Vanessa Paschakarnis
new sculpture for on form 2
page 6
4

Foundry Visit Polich Tallix,
Rock Tavern, NY
with Vanessa Hoheb
checking the surface up
close. page 40
Our regular business lunch
(Pranzo di Lavoro) at La
Broca with Mauro Fracassini
Vallecchia/ Pietrasanta
Stairways to Heaven
Construction in our Studio Paradiso
page 24
Vanessa enjoying quarantine in
East LaHave, NS in late August
2020
John Greer
Value Systems
page 30
0
The Sirens’ Calling
Installation 2020
Queen’s Marque,
Halifax, NS
page 14
5

o
n
f
o
r
m
2020
...was unfortunately only online. The good news is, that in 2021 the
doors will be unlocked and during the month of May the exhibition
will be taking place in a somewhat modified version.
Vanessa finished a couple of large scale new works for this exhibition
and she can’t wait to install them in the beautiful gardens at Asthall
Manor, near Oxford England.
Please find out all the details on the website:
www.onformsculpture.co.uk
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Text and images by Vanessa Paschakarnis

The Shield, 2020
by Vanessa Paschakarnis
Italian Marble, 183cm x 150cm x 12cm
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The Shield, 2020 is carved of a particularly
strong white Italian marble
from the Canaloni quarry above Carrara.
Its grain is so tight, that it rings
like a bell. It is mounted on a tapered
pin that allows it to be free standing
with a stainless plate fastened beneath
the surface. The Shield refers
back to a seashell, the sand dollar,
found on the shore. It’s detailing reflects
on a core and two halves, thus
creating a presence that is fragile,
yet embracing us as a thing.
Luna d’Oro, 2019 Egyptian Marble,
48cm x 3cm x 50cm; This small
shield based on a flat seashell bears a
band of marks, delineating its shape.
Its golden colour reminds one of the
moon in a night sky.
Falena d’Oro 1, 2019 Egyptian Marble,
90cm x 63cm x 3.5cm; A moth
is a creature of the night, that when
bathed in golden light, either merges
with the surface it finds itself on,
or starts unfolding, soaring into the
night to find light.
Falena d’Oro 2, 2019 Egyptian Marble,
100cm x 70cm x 4cm;
Here the moth is like an origami folded
piece of paper. Yet the surface
bears marks and scratches alluding
to it being a tender shield on the
wall, before being the delicate creature
of the night.
Bestia Romana, 2009 Travertine,
Statuario Marble, 96cm x 100cm
x 183cm; This sculpture is a heavy
solid piece with horns permanently
glued in. The presence of this
sculpture emphasizes the duality of
nature through it’s permanence on
the one hand and it’s lightness and
unpredictability on the other, here
represented by the white horns that
sling around the beast’s head without
ever touching it. The original
shape forces you to circumnavigate
the sculpture as it is unpredictable
in its form. “Bestia Romana” gets its
name from the large block of Roman
Travertine that it towers with pride
and presence.
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Shields and horns are means for protection.
They offer a place of security, but
they make you mobile, too, as they become
extensions of the self.
The Shield is freestanding, unlike those
that lean against a block of material, a
column or part of an edifice. It turns on
the custom hardware, not easily, but with
some low torque when pushed by hand.
The surface is rough, like broken skin,
revealing a pattern of the mechanical
movement that carved its very being out
of this large block of marble. Up close I
can engage with the surface as a soft entity,
stepping away its circumference is a
large embrace. The measure of woman as
I spread my wings.
I have been pondering the
meaning of art and am hoping that in
post pandemic times there will be
a need for work that taps into
humanist values, work that is not
reactionary but has optimism radiating
from within.
(Vanessa Paschakarnis)
I do engage with Bestia Umana in a very
similar way. This new horned creature is
standing high and its smoothly finished
head is pulling out of a tall, grey block of
marble.
I would like you to look with your
knees, feel with your eyes
and see with your elbows.
Sculpture is a catalyst for all our
senses and it exists in order
to question who we are next to it.
(Vanessa Paschakarnis)
The horns lift up like arms in a creamy rose
coloured marble with salmon coloured
tips. You don’t know how far you can fly
if you don’t spread your wings. This new
horned being is alive and stoic in the presence
with the horns rising like arms, like
wings, but halting, resting, before daring
to take off.
Both sculptures are a metaphor for the human
spirit as a wild young thing that needs
to be protected and tamed.
Detail of Bestia Romana, 2009;
Travertine, Statuario Marble,
96cm x 100cm x 183cm;
The object based sculpture by Vanessa
Paschakarnis seeks to confront the viewer
literally on a one to one level, physically
responding to our platform for action and
the viewer becomes the other, feeling her
way through a new surrounding full of
positive potential. Feeling grounded. vip
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Horned Being (Bestia Umana), 2020
by Vanessa Paschakarnis
Bardiglio marble, Portuguese marble, 184 cmx 70cm x 60cm
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The sculpture Bestia Umana
(Horned Being) is an “awesome”
reminder of the human will being
a wild thing, something we should
care for with “awe”.
(Vanessa Paschakarnis)
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T
H
E installation
fall
S 2020
I
R
E
N
S’
CALLING
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All images in this feature on the installation of “The Sirens’ Calling”
are by ©Raoul Manuel Schnell; Text by Vanessa Paschakarnis
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Mirror finishes on a sculpture open up the
surrounding and include us in the act of
Art. They make the world more visible in
it’s threedimensional reality.

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Because of the global pandemic we were stuck
in Tuscany until the end of the month of August,
a fact for which we do not seem to get much
sympathy, and so the installation of “The Calling”
had to be postponed for a few months. Needless to
say that the Queen’s Marque was also a bit behind
on their schedule. We had planned to hire our Irish
angel, Finbarr Sheehan to do the install for us, but
because of the state of emergency rules this was
out of the question.
So, fresh out of our quarantine upon arrival in
Canada, John and myself hit the ground running.
We narrowed down our dates with Blaise Morrison,
our trusted liaison for the entire project and we are
proud to say that we lived up to expectations and
completed the installation in two days plus one day
preparation on site.
The large monoliths are 5 tons each with holes
drilled for the subtle lighting. Adam Cudmore had
to find us a forklift to move these blocks onto the
interior piazza, a very difficult site logistically, due
to narrow and low access and a buzz of activity all
around us. Brady Rhodenizer joined our team as the
Electrician who doesn’t shy away from the most
curious tasks, as wiring up a few granite rocks. Last
but not least, we asked Manuel Schnell to come on
site and document our monumental task.
In the images on these pages you can see us working
concentrated and with lots of attention from
the workers on site as the mesmerizing Sirens were
one by one lifted on the tall stone elements and
unwrapped. The first one was like a magnet on the
waterfront, joined by three more to identify the
Cardinal positions.
We can’t wait for the official unveiling hopefully in
the spring of 2021 when the Queen’s Marque will
open to the public. What a wonderful site to develop
under the personal direction of Scott McCrea.
The Sirens’ Calling is a private commission for the
Queen’s Marque, but it will be publicly accessible.
This sculpture by John Greer was realized through
Intercontinental Sculpture, with Project Management
by Vanessa Paschakarnis.
vip
The Calling by John Greer:
The spirit of movement, the wind, desire, was
often represented as a bird with a human head.
This is a metaphor of imagination, the desire to
soar and to realize, to bring into the world what our
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mind conceives.
The power of the Sirens in the epic “The Odyssey”
shows the beauty and the danger the sirens represent.
They have the power to seduce and transfix.
Ulysses is fully aware of the human willpower needed
to resist the summons.
There is a beautiful stillness behind everything
and as a living, engaged human consciousness
our callings are tempered by the reflective presence
of this stillness. In order to step or go forward
we must know the place from where we step, otherwise
we descend into chaos and madness.
In my sculpture titled “The Calling”, I represent
these ideas in the form of four archaic Greek figures
sourced from standing archaic marble carvings.
These known and existing carvings have clothing
and hairstyles that I am utilizing to represent the
four cardinal positions of the compass. In my sculpture
I reduced the front of these life-size figures
to a flat, two-dimensional surface, mirror-polished
stainless steel. The backs of these figures are fully
articulated in their archaic style. They are in the
traditional posture of the stepping figure, the left
foot slightly forward, indicating deliberate forward
moving potential. These figures are standing in a
row. They hold their individual space, but are a united
front. This arrested moment or movement represents
the engaged stillness, the state of wonder.
They are each grounded on a large block of black
granite, a block showing the evidence of being taken
from the earth and placed on the earth.
Granite, unlike marble, is the very core material
of the Earth itself. The figures are centred on
a large monolith – facing the respective direction
that they represent as Cardinal points. The front
of the figures, being silhouettes, can be perceived
frontally as a figure stepping forward or receding,
stepping away. Going out into the world and coming
back in order to reflect. They are not about vanity,
but about vision as they open our gaze towards
the surroundings and the sky.
The Sirens overlooking the harbour act as a
metaphor: The “going-out” to engage with
the world, the public act and the call of the safe
haven, the harbour, the private place of reflection.
The arresting sound of the siren on an emergency
vehicle causes us to pause and wonder, to take in
where we are at the very moment in relation to the
sounding call. The experience is a kind of reflection
of position. The word “siren” and its implication of
danger echoes back to one of the foundations of
western culture, Greek literature. It is a reverberation
in time – bringing the past into the present.
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La Chiamata di John Greer
Traduzione in Italiano di Vanessa Paschakarnis
Lo spirito di movimento, il vento, il desiderio, era
spesso rappresentato come un uccello con una
testa umana. Questo è una metafora dell’immaginazione,
il desiderio di salire e di realizzare, di
portare in nostro mondo quello che concepisce la
nostra mente.
Il potere delle Sirene nell’epico L’odissea mostra
la bellezza e il pericolo che rappresentano le Sirene.
Loro hanno il potere di sedurre e trafiggere.
Ulisse è pienamente consapevole della forza di
volontà umana necessaria per resistere al richiamo.
C
’è un silenzio bellissimo dietro qualunque cosa
e come coscienza umana viva e impegnata,
le nostre chiamate sono mitigate dalla presenza
riflessiva di questo silenzio. Per fare un passo o
andare avanti, dobbiamo conoscere il posto da
dove facciamo un passo, altrimenti scendiamo nel
caos e la follia.
La scultura con il titolo “La Chiamata”, rappresenta
queste idee in forma di quattro figure arcaiche della
Grecia, che si basano su sculture arcaiche di marmo
in piedi. Queste sculture esistenti e conosciute hanno
abbigliamento e acconciature che sto utilizzando
per rappresentare i quattro punti cardinali della
bussola. Nella mia scultura, ho ridotto il davanti
delle sculture a grandezza naturale a una superficie
piana e bidimensionale, fatto di acciaio inossidabile,
lucidata a specchio.
Le parti posteriori di queste figure sono completamente
articolate nel loro stile arcaico. Sono nella
posizione tradizionale della figura che fa un passo,
con il piede sinistro leggermente avanti, indicando
un potenziale movimento intenzionale in avanti.
Queste figure tengono i loro spazi individuali, ma
sono un fronte unito. Questo momento o movimento
arrestato rappresenta l’immobilità impegnata, lo
stato di meraviglia.
Sono entrambi radicati su un grande blocco di granito,
un monolito, mettendo in evidenza di essere
stato preso dalla terra e posto sulla terra.
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Il Granito a differenza del marmo è il materiale
fondamentale della terra stessa. Le figure sono
centrate nei monoliti, rivolti verso le rispettive
direzioni che rappresentano come punti cardinali.
La parte anteriore delle figure, essere “silhouette”,
può essere percepito frontalmente come una
figura che fa un passo avanti, o si allontana: uscire
nel mondo e tornare per riflettere. Non si tratta di
vanità, ma della visione, mentre aprono il nostro
sguardo verso l’ambiente e il cielo.
Le Sirene con vista sul porto, fungono da metafora.
L’ “uscire” per interagire con il mondo, l’atto
pubblico, il richiamo del rifugio sicuro, il porto, il
luogo privato di riflessione. Il suono di arresto della
sirena su un veicolo di emergenza ci fa fermare per
renderci conto dove siamo al momento riguardo
alla chiamata dal suono. L’esperienza è una riflessione
della posizione. La parola “Sirena” e la sua
implicazione di pericolo risuona in uno dei punti
della cultura occidentale, la letteratura greca. È
un reverbero nel tempo, che porta il passato nel
presente.
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Stairs to
Constructio
24
Text and images by
Vanessa Paschakarnis
in our Studi

heaven!
n proceeds
o Paradiso.
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What a wonderful adventure we got ourselves
into – building in Italy. We have
an amazing team at work around our engineer
Rossano Forassiepi and Luca da Prato, a builder /
stone mason and our protector in so many ways.
We have been asked how we met Luca – well he
came with our warehouse. He built the partition
wall and we hired him first when John looked
up eleven meters and suggested enthusiastically
that we can start in here by painting the
new wall ourselves. I met his sparkly eyes with
silence. I can’t climb up there, let alone hold a
brush and paint unglazed ceramic blocks. So
we hired Luca and his assistant Francesco Lari
to paint their way down as they dismantled the
staging. He gave us a really good price for it and
this is how it all began.
We envisioned our apartment in our Paradiso
since we signed the contract and took ownership
in May of 2018. We bought part of a large
warehouse and with it a nice size courtyard, all
tucked away from the busy main street we are
on, facing toward the lower end of the apuan
alps. We are in a dual zone so that we can build
a custodian apartment in our working studio.
The building permit was approved in September
2019. So here we are, an impressive steel structure
forms our house inside the warehouse. All
earthquake proof with a massive structure below
ground level. The steel beams hold up two
levels of concrete poured into steel laminate.
The foundation is 60cm of concrete with about
three tons of steel armature buried inside. If or
when the Earth starts shaking, we will run inside
for safety.
Days of breaking concrete were followed by
excavation machinery inside. Exciting days were
those when the cement trucks come and their
long, joy-stick steered arms unfold through the
clouds to end up pumping the grey mass into
carefully prepared moulds.
In these images you can get a bit of an impression
of life on a construction site. It is, however
separated from our carving area outside, so
that we can creatively pursue our work while
we watch our apartment slowly coming to life.
These are the first stages of the shell including
plumbing and electricity buried largely in the
floor, because we strange artists do not want to
have any walls. Things are proceeding to finish
the main structure including the catwalk along
our window front before the end of winter. vip
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Text and images by
Vanessa Paschakarnis unless otherwise noted

John Greer’s works on
V
A L
U E
S YSTE
M S
31

Clockwise from top:
Twice Removed, 2018 (private
collection England) Statuario
Marble, 73cm x 44cm x 19cm;
photo ©James Brittain Photography
From Old Money,2012;
Guatemala green Marble,
French red Marble, 110cm x
55cm x 45cm;
Pre-Money, 2011 (private collection
Switzerland), Granite, Travertine
150cm x 23cm x 170cm
Cowry Revisited, 2018
(Private Collection Oxford, England)
Iranian Travertine,
68cm x 44cm x 20cm; photo
©James Brittain Photography
Pre-Money, 2011; Travertine, black granite; private
collection Switzerland; From Old Money, 2012 Guatemala
green marble, French red marbel;
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Art is a form of cultural currency. The abstraction of value has enabled many cultures to
thrive. The invention of coinage to represent the ideas of services and goods creates a
flow, a current of ideas, a body of thought. This is what culture is made up of: the body
of abstracted ideas that we share in our culture is our reality. Each culture has its own
reality, its own values. (John Greer)

“With my money works
I am thinking a lot
about value
systems regarding
art and life
and ideas within objects
... and objects as carriers
of ideas of value.”
John Greer.
Top : Balanced, 2016
Travertine, black granite;
153cm x 95cm x 100cm high
Below: Echo, 2019
Plaster, painted;
137cm x 90cm x 40cm
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Money Wagon, 2013; Iranian Travertine, 168.5cm x 35cm x 143cm
Fuse, 2013; Iranian Travertine, 170cm x 145cm x 45cm
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John started his explorations of value systems
a few years back when he was shortlisted for a
commission for a government agency that finances
small businesses in third-world countries. His idea
was a cascading of oversized coins coming down a
column at the main entrance of the building with
the lowest one sort of hip-high so that one could
rub it for good luck on the way to work. This coin
was to depict a sheath of wheat. The proposal
was not chosen, but John’s curiosity was sparked.
Immediately John thought of the abstract concept
of value systems. Coinage, to him, is an invention
somewhere up there with fire in regard to its influence
on the direction of humankind. War could
not have been fought and trade would not have
exploded without the concept of money as an abstract
value. The depictions on coinage are symbols
deeply connected to power, politics and culture of
a people.
Art, to John Greer is a comparable powerful value
system, yet its mechanisms are a parallel force to
that of economics. While art is a commodity, its
true purpose is that beyond economic value. Art
is powerful through its contribution as a voice and
mirror of a society. Curiously Greer chose the coins
he used based on aesthetics and symbolism. It is
Vision of Paradise, interrupted, 2019; 14cm x 15cm x 5.5cm;
plastic, metal; Paper Money, 2013, suite 1-3, each print
120cm x 80cm, viscosity printed plexiglas engraving; (in the
collections of the IMF, Washington DC and Frost Bank, San
Antonio, TX USA).
cowry shells turn into curious creatures, not only
because they have these openings reminiscent of
a pair of eyes watching you from deep inside the
crevice of the shell. They recall our dependence
on natural resources and question how a cultural
construct starts to adapt nature and need.
In John’s work the beauty of the skilled execution
is an entrance to the layered meaning of his
thoughtful approach. While it is important to him
that any sculpture works formally as an object,
the true power is revealed when you start to
question, asking “Why is this here?” “Why now?”
“I have given much thought regarding the value of Art. The art object is first a manifestation
of the artist voice, a statement in form. It’s true cost is live itself - it takes time - both
to realize and also to contemplate. A voice not heard is lost or has no value. Art is a power
transaction - a form of currency, and like other currencies, its context is a significant
component of its value.” John Greer
important for him to utilize images based on real
coinage that was in circulation at some point, but
he realized fast, that what he considered the most
beautiful were not necessarily the most valuable.
However, the coins that he picked to transform into
concepts of art through sculpture and printmaking
were often those that symbolized change in the
current media, as for example a particular design
of an owl on a Greek coin that was used in various
newspapers when Greece was going through its
monetary crisis as part of the European Union.
John Greer wonders about why and when humans
felt the need to invent money in order to manifest
transaction. The cowry shell for example was an
early form of money. It has had its ups and downs
and was replicated in bone and stone as currency
when it got scarce before it disappeared due to
inflation. Of course as sculptures, those re-scaled
And “How does it relate to where and who I
am?” He is a master in weaving clever connections
through imagery and subject matter that
come alive through a timely approach in a very
timeless connection to our reality as humans.
I find his work to be deeply humanist in that he
has this unfaltering trust in us to be responsible
and responsive creatures. Yes, John seduces his
viewers with beauty in the details and a re-enactment
of things that we can connect with and
love, but he guides us to go further and gain
confidence in our own questioning of things
gone, and ongoing now. Value systems are at the
core of what we take to heart, abstract and very
directly in our everyday life. By pointing his fingers
right into taboos and hot topics, John Greer
doesn’t close chapters, but invites us to engage
and ignite in a most optimistic way. vip
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“Taboo” is one object, looking like three. It represents
the international connectedness of cultures
and the dynamic separateness of these. Together
and apart.
(John Greer)
Taboo, 2011/2012
In the collection of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Iranian Travertine, 67cm x 150cm x 170cm (26” x 59” x 67”)
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A Brief History
White Italian marble, Travertine, 3 elements;
Bridge Money: 180cm x 15cm x 120cm high
Spade Money: 180cm x 10cm x 180cm high
Sword Money: 40cm x 13cm x 190cm high
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of Money, 2014
“This three-part work is based on existing early coins from
China, before coins were round. Spade money, bridge
money and sword money were some of the shapes used.
Coins are a very early form of abstracted value. I chose
these three shapes for their symbolic value. Sustenance -
the spade, crossing the divide – the bridge and defense or
territorial expansion – the sword. These are basic goals of
human needs symbolizing commercial values and/ or moral
values.” (John Greer)
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Text and images by
Vanessa Paschakarnis

Polich Tallix / UAP
F
O
U
N
D
R
Y
V
I
S
I
T
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Polich Tallix is a large professional foundry
that allows and invites artists on the floor to
oversee and participate in the complex process
from maquette and pattern to a finished bronze
or metal sculpture. The team around Mike List
is casting stainless steel for us. John’s Sirens ask
for careful finishing as their back is cast and the
front is a mirror polished plate that has to be
welded to the casting so that there is no visual
distortion. Not many foundries touch this kind
of procedure, because of the high heat necessary
and careful atmospheric monitoring to
avoid ferrous contamination.
We hired Vanessa Hoheb, a trusted collaborator
and highly skilled professional craftswoman
who knows the processes in the foundry inside
out. She is our consultant to effectively communicate
with the foundry because we are not
able to travel on short notice to make decisions
on site.
The existing patterns of these four sculptures
that were modeled and detailed by John in a
modified plaster were used to make chemically
bonded sand molds. A few undercuts had to
be made into piece moulds. Once cast, the real
work of finishing and refining a cast begins.
Internal armatures have to be mounted to
fasten a mounting pin. Many skilled artisans are
at work to bring a stainless steel sculpture into
existence.
There is much excitement when you finally see
and feel a cast sculpture after you have envisioned
and planned it for weeks and months.
The Sirens are a special presence through their
austere and confident stance. They exude a
confirmation of existence in the reflection of
their fronts. It is as if they awaken their surroundings.
The buzz of a busy workshop is
heightened and muted at the same time, opening
a window outside of time.
Look closely and you see the different surfaces.
Scratches and traces have to be redefined to
translate into the artist’s hand, process marks
have to be hidden. Skilled technicians have to
start seeing what the artist was looking for in
all the rendered details, or the absence thereof.
Look closely and learn to see. Through liquid
metal you can redefine tenderness for eternity.

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In this image you see the transition between
the cast material and the polished
plate. Seemless, fluid and simply beautiful.
When craftsmanship is so refined that you
don’t see it, you have arrived.

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ART THOUGHTS
by Vanessa
am surrounded by art. I wake up with
I sculpture in my head and am surrounded
by it. Things, objects. Also drawings. Prints.
Then paintings. The paintings in our house
are usually objects of desire traded with
a friend or fellow artist. My “Houseplant”
painting is one of those. I hung it on a very
private wall, one that is well lit, bare of
too many distractions and close to where I
spend quality time.
My “Houseplant” is more like the shadow
of a houseplant. It is dark grey in colour on
a blue grey amorphous background, blocking
the view on two small paintings hanging
on a wall in the distance. Like two eyes
watching, but hiding out of view.
The plant or the shadow thereof is dynamic
in the foreground, cut off by the size of the
canvas. That, what this painting is about,
seems to be outside of the picture frame.
I gravitated to this painting because my
understanding of the shadow is different
from what most people perceive, I am told.
For me, a shadow is three-dimensional,
not a two-dimensional image on a surface.
A shadow is the mass or volume of space
that is separated by a person, an object, an
animal from the sun or a light source. The
planes we see are just the visual boundaries
of a shadow. I imagine a threedimensional
amorphous form. A lot of my
sculpture is based on that understanding.
A shadow is more true to reality than a
reflection, because it does not turn things
around. It obscures things. It is the most
direct confirmation of being.
I don’t mind. I like it’s fuzzy undetermined presence.
If it falls, it will give clear sight for the gaze
of those paintings. Yet, in full view, they will turn
around and become paintings again. My own extended
vision.
Brian was a very existential thinker. When you
know the painter as a friend, it gives you additional
insight. The modest scale of the painting makes
it perfect for a personal experience. The paint is
applied with pleasure for the material. I can’t help,
but think sometimes that the “Houseplant” may be
a bit of an introspective self-portrait. The plant is
a silent observer in a private place. If it was listening
and who knows, it may very well be, it would
have stories to tell, secrets to pass on. Brian was a
master in creating austere, still, existential scenes.
No clutter, just the distilled essence that turned humans
into objects, things into living creatures and
silence into a scream.
My “Houseplant” painting is very silent. It is very
present in its monotonous blue-grey. It is a a silent
conversation for me during the day, the shadow
confirming my being here right now. vip
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The houseplant falls out of the picture
plane right into real space. It continues in
my own realm.
Why do people always have negative
associations with the idea of a shadow? It
reveals the other side, the dark side. Yet, it
only occurs during the positive encounter
of light. It gives shelter when the light gets
too hot. Thus my houseplant is dark.
Houseplant is a painting by Brian Burke.

Luna Blu
Come un corpo celeste
Acqua profonda
Fuori di questo mondo
Come una conchiglia aperta, trovata sulla spiaggia
Durante la notte della luna piena
Che apre le meraviglie della vita.
(La scultura “Blue Moon” è di Vanessa Paschakarnis)
View of our Paradiso yard with a rainbow framing it.
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Detail of The Sirens’ Calling, 2020; in the collection of Queen’s Marque, Halifax, NS Canada
Artist: John Greer; Project Management: Vanessa Paschakarnis; Realization: Intercontinental Sculpture Inc.
www.intercontinentalsculpture.com; info@intercontinentalsculpture.com