This instrumental artwork came about from an idea I had about working with one of the five elements of Chinese philosophy in a different century, highlighting the light and shade of Wood in the 1900s.
I had several beautiful light colored, vintage wood artifacts, and decided to incorporate them into one piece, to represent a golden sunset in Autumn 1914.
I wanted to include a strong blues theme in this wooden temple for sunset Autumn 1914, and I purchased an Electric pickup from a friend in the USA who had made the pickups using wood sourced from the historic Hopsons Cotton mill In Clarksdale Mississippi that had recently been demolished.
The neck wood came from a beautiful piece of Matai floor boarding I upcycled from an early 1900s settlers cottage being demolished in Te Papapa Auckland. The wood had a great golden glow to it even after one hundred years as a floorboard.
I wanted to include a medal from around the same time the neck wood started out life as a floorboard, and found a beautiful antique art medal pendant signed by Pierre Theunis and made in 1914, called; The MIGHTY LION OF WWI.
The Medal was minted at a time of hardship and uncertainly in the world, to represent bravery at a time when it was needed most.
SCALE LENGTH: GIBSON 24 ¾” 629 mm ELECTRIC, RIGHT HANDED, 19 FRETTED FOUR STRING, CIGARBOX GUITAR.
