Into the Silent Sea

Jon Eiseman’s sculptures extend beyond the physical, encompassing notions of time, spirituality and emotion. Cast in bronze his figurative sculptures have a whimsical and poetic quality in which the common man - often represented as a suited figure or solitary head - is fused with iconic symbols of the vessel, fish, bird, tower, tree, flag and ladder to suggest contemplation, humour and internal struggle. Drawn from the shadow world of dream and the inner landscape of the unconscious, his work creates an intriguing open-ended sense of narrative. 

Catalogue Essay by Elli Walsh 2020Jon Eiseman: Into the Silent Sea

For more than three decades, Jon Eiseman has developed a complex private mythology centered on a search for meaning in the borderland between rationality and the subconscious. Masterfully cast in bronze, solitary figures embark on strange voyages through liminal landscapes, as if distilled directly from a dream or the the inner undulations of the subconscious. In this new series of bronzes, Eiseman continues his sustained exploration of the symbolic currency of ‘the journey’. Inspired by his travels in central Australia and the Kimberley area, the works siphon the psychological valency of the desert, which, in Eiseman’s words, is often said to be ‘a place of meditation and contemplation, a place of serenity or madness’. He continues, ‘being in this vast remoteness away from the hustle and bustle of modern everyday life, one cannot help but be drawn into its ancient consciousness.’ In the works, anonymous protagonists traverse forests and oceans in an existential quest for meaning. Their voyages seem purposeful, and yet these figures are equally lost; displaced. There is a paradoxical stasis to these journeys; the solid materiality of bronze cementing the figures to their bases. One figure leaps from the bow of a sinking boat, the feather-wings strapped to his arms embracing an invisible breeze – yet he is fossilised in this moment, never able to realise his escape.  They are fragments of a puzzle that will never be complete, with moss-like patina engulfing them like ancient relics. At the edge of the desert ripples the ocean, which, for Eiseman, echoes our vast subconscious sea of thoughts and dreams. Standing solemnly in boats ill-equipped for a voyage, figures drift toward the unknown, absorbed in contemplations of spirituality, the state of the world and the future of mankind. In these poetic compositions, the trope of the bird alludes to myths and legends about spiritual guides, while the feather and the egg emblematically locate death and life as ever-present companions in our search for meaning. Precarious pilings of figures, birds and objects perched amidst gnarled leafless trees carves a space for ontological questions that cannot be answered. Eiseman considers how as humanity departs from nature, we lose part of our very being in the process. ‘My journey has provoked more questions than answers’, he reflects, ‘In this exhibition I explore feelings of anxiety, isolation, the search for spirituality, and the need for love’. Eiseman’s boats become vessels of both enlightenment and enigma, futility and hope. In collaboration with his partner, artist Anne Conron, Eiseman has also produced a body of photographic work to push these ideas beyond the physical perimeter of sculpture. Collages of imagery collected over the years combined with theatrical figures enacting strange rituals in otherworldly landscapes visualise the disjunct between contemporary existence and the natural world. When viewed together, Eiseman’s bronzes and photographs offer an enigmatic iconography or abstracted poetry to be deciphered, within which we catch glimpses of the finite self striving against the continuum of existence.

Artist Statement: A recurring theme in my work is the metaphorical search for meaning and spirituality in the borderland between the rational world and the surreal lands of dreams and imagination. Within my current work I continue to explore the theme of a journey through strange and unfamiliar landscapes, inhabited by people travelling in a timeless world. Their voyage, through forests and oceans seems mysteriously purposeful yet enigmatic. Through the development of symbolic images I aim to create sculptures that have a dreamlike and poetic quality as if drawn from the inner landscape of the subconscious.

The essence of this exhibition is to create a body of  work inspired by my travels in central Australia and the Kimberly area in the far north west of our continent. It is often said that the desert is a place for meditation and contemplation, a place of serenity or madness. Being in this vast remoteness away from the hustle and bustle of modern everyday life, one cannot help but be drawn into its ancient consciousness. The ocean ripples ever present at the edge of the desert, echoing our vast inner sea of the subconscious world of thoughts and dreams. We drift toward contemplation of spirituality, the state of the world and the future of mankind. Humanity seems to be moving away from nature and at the same time losing part of our very being in the process. There is a growing sense of unease that all is not well in our world and a desire for fundamental change. My journey has provoked more questions than answers but has enabled me to create a new body of work. 

In this exhibition I explore feelings of anxiety, isolation, the search for spirituality , and the need for love. As well as my own observations, my partner Anne Conron has created  a series of photographic images which combined with the sculptural aspect brings a much broader scope to the work beyond the limits of three dimensional sculpture. The photographs are a collage of images collected along the way combined with  iconic theatrical figures enacting strange rituals using found objects within other worldly landscapes. They are a comment on the dislocation and disassociation between our modern life and the natural world. The humorous and light hearted aspect of our photographic work is always an enjoyable and interesting part of our travels, frequently evoking some curious stares from passing traffic. 

Jon Eiseman has been a practicing artist since 1985, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Honours [Fine Arts] from Monash University in 1998 and a Master of Fine Arts from Monash University in 2000. In 2014 Eiseman exhibited in the Lorne Sculpture Biennale and in 2013 he was a finalist in the McClelland Small Sculpture Fair. In 2010 he was part of the McClelland Sculpture Survey Exhibition and was also a finalist in the Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize, the Deakin University Small Sculpture Award and the Alice Art Prize. 

Eiseman's sculptures feature in the permanent collections of The Constable & Hershon Vineyard & Sculpture Garden, Hunter Valley, NSW, La Trobe University Collection, Parliament House, Hobart, Tasmania, Geelong Regional Gallery, Burnie Regional Gallery, and Point Leo Sculpture Park in Victoria and in private collections in New Zealand, USA, Asia and Europe.  He has completed several public, corporate and private commissions throughout Australia.