The people in Rodney Glick’s sculptures are people he knows, but he calls them ‘everyone’, and then assigns a number for the practical purpose of distinguishing the works from one another. Dressed in contemporary clothing and with physiques that align them with people in our own lives, Glick’s subjects are like anyone we might pass in the street or sit next to on a plane. They are anonymous, ordinary people, not above us in any social or spiritual sphere, and not below either. They are simultaneously familiar and foreign. This gap between the known and the unknown is increased by the way Glick has depicted his Everyones with reference to Hindu and Buddhist iconography. This use of Eastern religious art in the Western contemporary realm pushes the work into a contentious space of questioning around what is sacred, and what is right for use. Glick incites a response that leaves us both uncertain and amused, confusing us into thinking.
Rodney Glick is an Australian artist currently living and working in Indonesia whose sculptures combine real, spiritual and imagined realms. Glick’s practice is intriguing on many levels – from his ingenuity with material, rigorous exploration of subject matter, intelligence and wicked sense of humour.
