Local input to work by renowned artist

David O'Leary • Published 26 Jul 2010 09:30 0 Comments

A ONE of a kind sculpture depicting Christ's crucifixion made from 3,000 coathangers has gone on display in Edinburgh this week.

The unique 9ft piece by renowned Fife artist, David Mach, was created in Peebles by Relicarte and took three months to construct.

Mach and Aegir MacIver, of Relicarte, previously worked together on a similar project two years ago when an 8ft gorilla figure was made using over 5,000 coathangers.

Edinburgh's City Art Centre plan to host an exhibition of coathanger figures and collages next summer as part of a project to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

Mach's collages will feature his interpretations of biblical stories such as the Flood, the Tower of Babel, Crossing the Red Sea, Noah's Ark, Jesus' miracles and the epic visions of St John.

The King James Bible is the popular name for the first version of the Bible published on a mass scale in the English language.

David believes biblical imagery to be a good way to explore the hypocrisies of the contemporary world. He said: "The King James Bible communicated its message so effectively that its language still resonates through our speech to this day.

"Today we live in an age of sophisticated mass communication and yet we still have wars, famine and bigotry. To me that represents a failure of communication.

"The reason I work with coathangers is that they give a look of movement to the sculpture. I like the power and form they offer because the work doesn't look static."

Aegir said: "It's a pleasure to work with David again. The work is very time-consuming and labour intensive but it's a really exciting project. Along with the Christ crucifixion, we have another three figures to make for the exhibition next year."

The figures are made by first creating a clay version around which a plastic version is then moulded. The coathangers are then hand placed and brazed before the hangers are burned away.

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This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 23 Jul 10

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