'UNTITLED (QUESTIONING ADULTS)' 2007
Carved balsa wood & enamel paints / Cartridge paper & coloured pencil in frame
83cm x 60cm / 30cm x 24cm


A private commission based around my forgery of the painting 'Questioning Children' 1948, by Karel Appel.

Invited to make a new work for the home of two architects I devised a project that asked the question "What object would you like to own but know that, for whatever reason, you never will? Whatever it is I will remake it for you".

The question prompted a long negotiation as we discussed the various potential outcomes, whittling a long list down to the final piece. Once the object had been chosen i went back to the studio to work out how I could reproduce this assemblage of found wood and broadly applied oil paint. Deciding to aim for a purely visual recreation I took the model maker's approach and used balsa wood, small tins of enamel paint and fine brushes to exactly replicate every crack, drip and smear.

(above: The work in location)

The piece to the left of the above image is the other physical product of the process. I wanted to accompany the Appel forgery with some other sculptural element to bring out the process of it's making. Throughout our discussions we had been referring to their initial shortlist that my question had provoked, I decided to reproduce this myself using the same skills I had honed in the making of the Appel forgery.

(above: Details of the replica envelope, coloured pencil on folded cartridge paper in custom frame)

Made exactly to scale the envelope was carefully constructed from cartridge paper, cut and scored with a scalpel to replicate the folds and tears of the original ripped open envelope. I then used a fine propelling pencil to carefully reproduce their handwritten notes and sketches.