Driftwood, leather.
Made from driftwood this paddle follows the pattern of ‘Greenland paddle’ design but instead of the blade protruding from a shaft or loom it ends in a hand grip.
Though this paddle could have practical application for emergency rolling (should a capsized kayaker lose their paddle), it is designed as an abstraction from the function of a paddle to emphasise the tool – and by association the vessel it propels – as extensions of the human body.
In making this work I was motivated by trying to express materially some of the more esoteric parts of this body of work – which is the point of intersection between the fabricated object and the human form as it’s catalyst.
Jim Lockey 