Crush - Wave of fire

"Crush", Simon Max Bannister, 2012

While collecting numerous pieces of driftwood that lay on the banks of the Tugela River Mouth, I had time to reflect on the magnitude of last years impact on my creative journey. I have worked closer with the elements than ever before, working at a scale that mirrors my passion.

It was only fitting that the year ended with a bonfire, we gathered pieces and wove them into a wave, a symbol of relentless life force. It took a while to take as the rain had dampened the wood and our spirits, but when it took nothing could stop it. It delighted the onlookers, who gazed deep into the flames and howled with the dancing embers.

Recently, I have made many fire sculptures of different forms and have enjoyed the process and reactions tremendously. The sculpture only comes alive when it is burning and so too do they eyes of the observers. Fire holds such a deep fascination with us, a form of danger, of protection, catharsis, solace, warmth, of fierce but gentle ruthlessness, a mirror to ourselves, a friend and foe in one.