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Mr clement’s Hanging on for dear love

hether it’s the cinematic Wild West ‘s ‘white hat’ law-bringers shooting from twenty paces at ‘black hat’ scoundrels or Medieval literature ‘s virtuous white knights clashing swords with sinister black knights, it seems like we’ve sought since time immemorial to visualize good and evil as these opposing, contrasting colors. And similar instances date back to when Byzantine era artists depicted white doves as divine messengers and black crows as ill omens, both images being rich in biblical symbolism. And this iconography is what modern minimalist mr clement seemingly draws upon for his two newest glass-glazed porcelain sculptural editions — the white Hanging on for dear love and the black Direction of flight — each of which portrays the artist’s anthropomorphic, rabbit-like lapin character riding atop a massive version of his fictional ji ja bird creation.

Though mr clement’s personal religious beliefs are unknown, it’s difficult to ignore the prominent Christian symbolism that pervades these works, each containing a multitude of aspects that any student of classical art would recognize. Hanging on for dear love, for instance, is adorned in white, a color associated with purity and innocence, making the appearance of this ji ja bird instantly become synonymous with that of a dove. Its beak clenches a thornless white rose, Christianity’s floral symbol of the Virgin Mary’s sinless existence, an aspect that seems to enforce classical art’s view of the dove as a heavenly guide. And due to the sculpture being posed as if soaring with purposeful speed, its lapin passenger grasping its backside for dear life, its almost inevitable that one could interpret the flight path as being heavenward, the bird carrying its worthy charge to a well-deserved afterlife.



Mr clement’s Direction of flight

In opposition to the straight-forward interpretation that can be placed onto Hanging on for dear love, its complimentary sculpture — Direction of flight — conceals a potentially complex meaning. Coated in black, a color commonly associated with death and devilish misdeeds, its presence likens this ji ja bird to the crow or raven, avians that typically imply demonic portents. But pointing the direction of flight is the lapin rider, a pair of metal keys grasped in its hand. As this iconography frequently relates to Saint Peter‘s sacred sovereignty to admit people into heaven, it completely alters the perception from what could’ve been a hellbound soul into one being guided towards the light. And while these two completely handcrafted designs have impact individually, each one limited to 50 copies (plus 5 Artist Proof pieces), they carry the most significance when paired together, allowing viewers to fully question the meanings we impose within a black-and-white world.



Click Here to Acquire mr clement’s ji ja bird-based Porcelain Sculptures, each of which is issued with a signed & numbered certificate of authenticity.

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