Echo

Echo
Welded Metal, Stone and Found Objects
53 × 33 × 30 cm

Echo is my first welded metal and stone whale sculpture and continues a body of work concerned with whales, marine life and the future of our oceans.

The sculpture began with rusty old Land Rover parts and discarded tools. A friend and I sand blasted each piece back to bare metal. I then laid the parts out on a table, moving them until the curve and upward movement of a breaching whale emerged, before tacking and welding them together in those positions.

From the beginning I intended to incorporate stone. The stones were sourced from a nearby farm and soften the weight of the metal, bringing natural forms into conversation with reclaimed mechanical objects.

Echo reflects the way marine life now inhabits an ocean increasingly shaped by human activity. Yet the whale remains a figure of movement, resilience and wonder. The title suggests both the enduring presence of whales and the consequences of human actions returning to us across the sea.

© Stephanie Fuller (Burns)