Jon Eiseman: Borderland

Working primarily in the medium of bronze, Eiseman has been a practicing artist since 1985. His exquisite bronzes present masterfully cast images of birds, boats and solitary figures that inhabit surreal landscapes. They unveil human desires and aspirations that are suppressed by rational consciousness and the routine of everyday living.

‘Borderland’ extends the artist’s metaphorical search for meaning and spirituality in the netherworld between rationality and the subconscious. The new series of work conveys a journey through liminal landscapes of forests and oceans. Each voyage appears purposeful yet enigmatic, symptomising our own paths through the uncharted terrain of life. Eiseman’s unique set of symbolic imagery is a kind of visual poetry that precipitates fantastical scenarios, as if distilled directly from a dream. The motif of the bird mask on the human figure, for example, draws from myths and legends about spiritual guides and guardian angels, while the suitcase emblemises an inner journey – the departure and arrival – and also the idea of baggage; the dreams, hopes, desires and memories that are carried through a lifetime.

In collaboration with artist Anne Conron, Eiseman has also produced a body of photographic work to push these ideas beyond the physical boundaries of sculpture, employing distortion and overlay to enhance the surreality of the sculptural imagery.