PHYSICS BEING HEALING PHYSICS 2007 BY LAWSON OYEKAN

Lawson’s work is fundamentally about life. He manipulates the very substance of creation (clay), the mythical material all life forms are made out of, and presents it anew. The structures are such as to confound the viewer. The confusion is delivered through the scale and depth of the work. It is worth focusing on this particular piece on show as a route to understanding the meaning behind his works.

This piece is made up of three monoliths placed in a single line. The bodies, and they are bodies, in front of you are slightly larger than human size. They lord over their viewers, forcing an assessment of the self. In front of an inanimate object capable of inhalation and exhalation, it is possible to make honest judgements about one’s own relationship to the world. As Lawson says, these are healing beings, and healing only comes about through scrutiny and the deliberate application of a remedy. Sometimes the scrutiny can only come about through confrontation, and these monoliths do exactly that, they confront. Physics Being Healing Physics helps us do this.