Unnamed Daughter

Artist Kevin Henderson (Scotland, born 1963)

Date1988

MediumPlaster, graphite and watercolour paint

ClassificationsSculptures

DimensionsOverall: 20 × 27 × 2cm

AcquisitionPresented in 2022 by the artist.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDMS095710.2

About MeKevin Henderson was born in Singapore and studied at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, 1981–6, also Oregon State University, America, 1982–3. From 1997 he lectured at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, where he lived. Henderson explained the inspiration behind this artwork: “Unnamed Daughter is fragmented in six pieces. It lies there and has its own form of wholeness. It’s about the act of a thing trying to come into existence, but not being allowed to. I try not to do too much to the materials I use. My reason for choosing them has to do with the intrinsic qualities they possess. The materials have a strong presence because they already have a history. I don’t see the work as ‘sculptural’. They are organisations of things – laid out in the simplest way possible. I think that there is a fragility in the work because I’m trying to use a language that is not well known, as though it’s just coming into being.”