Crossing borders, daring to make transitions, venturing into unknown areas – transgressive processes are part of life. We cross borders, sometimes our own, sometimes social ones – sometimes without realizing it, sometimes quite consciously. It is precisely these transgressions that Terence Carr deals with artistically, for example in his sculpture series “Seven Sins”. In Christianity, sins are the opposite of virtues and people are in constant conflict. We have been exposed to temptations since time immemorial, ranging from laziness, greed, envy and pride to fornication, gluttony and anger. In his “Seven Sins”, Carr relies on a clearly understandable formal language that has a direct and immediate effect. Despite this clarity, the compactly composed sculptures are full of detail, expressively designed and delicately crafted.
The sculptures are based on sketches that are worked as wax models and cast in bronze. In the end, each individual sin is captured in clear, bright colors that further emphasize the relationship within the sculpture. Despite the sinful subject matter, the bronze figures exude a lively cheerfulness that bears Terence Carr’s unmistakable signature. Carr usually prefers to work with large blocks of wood. With the chainsaw, he lets himself be guided by intuition and the material itself. The wood always remains visible as a material, the traces of the saw become part of the sculpture as a visualized process and are emphasized by the paint. Terence Carr also casts the wooden sculptures in bronze. Where the wooden figure appears powerful and striking, the bronze sculpture appears small and delicate. The rough cuts are also visible in bronze. The quality of the wood is transformed into metal. However, when cast in metal, the striking traces of processing do not appear rough, but delicate and filigree. The juxtaposition of the wood and bronze sculptures illustrates how our perception also crosses boundaries. Two objects that are actually the same appear quite different when viewed side by side. The same applies to the sins: Where one person sees only laziness, another recognizes the ability to take time for oneself.
Transgressive processes can also be found in the biography of the Kenyan-born man. He left Africa as a young man to pursue a military career in the British army. When he was stationed in Germany, he not only came to the inner-German border, but also to his own. On a confrontation course with the indoctrinated values and virtues, Carr decides to break with the life of a soldier. He left the army and studied art education in Augsburg, before going his own way as a freelance artist. His oeuvre bears witness not only to his African roots, but also to his confrontation with the war. Virtue and sin run like a red thread through his artistic work. He packs serious themes under colorful layers of paint. Sometimes hidden and symbolic, sometimes clear and direct, always wild and expressive.