Homeric Catalogue of Shapes

In the popular imagination Homer as author of the <i>Iliad</i> and the <i>Odyssey </i> epitomises poetic genius. So when scholars proposed that the Homeric epics were not the unique creation of an individual author but instead reflected a traditional compositional system developed by generations of singer-poets swathes of assumptions about the poems and their 'author' were swept aside and called into question. Much had to be re-evaluated through a new lens.<br/> <br/> The creative process described by scholars for the Homeric epics shares many key attributes with the modern visual art-forms of collage and its less familiar variant: sculptural assemblage. <i>A Homeric Catalogue of Shapes</i>describes a series of twelve sculptures that together function as an abstract portrait of Homer: not a depiction of him as an individual but as a compositional system. The technique by which the artworks were produced reflects the poetic method that scholars termed oral-formulaic. In both of these creative processes the artwork is constructed from pre-existing elements: such as phrases characters and plot-lines in the epics; and objects fragmented items and borrowed forms in the sculptures. The artist/author presents a largely unknown characterisation of Homeric poetics in a manner that emphasizes the extent and complexity of this Homer's artistry.