AgeofKaliKJ.mp3

Age of Kali

Artist Stephen Bird (Stoke-on-Trent, England, born 1964)

Date2005

Mediumpainted ceramic

ClassificationsSculptures

Dimensions66 x 29 x 20cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 2006 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions.

LocationView by Appointment

Object numberABDAG014405

Keywords

Blue

About MeSignificantly, Stephen Bird was born in Stoke-on-Trent and although he trained as a painter, in 1996 he began making fantastical clay figures. Their strange anatomy was partly due to the fact that he was using a small kiln and the large figures had to be made as composite pieces. This work takes the form of a traditional Staffordshire flat-back figure but grafted-on is the menacing form of the Hindu god, Kali.

'Age of Kali' illustrates the influences that have informed Bird's recent work - folk references collide with eastern culture and politics. His interest in Hindu mythology was inspired by travels to India where he has worked for periods in a children's orphanage in West Bengal. Kali personifies this age of destruction. Bird writes, "Hindu nationalists believe that the Kali Yug is the final age of man in his present form. During this age they say man will do the most vile and unspeakable evil and the world will be destroyed and reborn."

More About Me

Collections Wall

The Hindu goddess Kali is the destroyer of evil forces.

Exhibitions

Human Presence