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The Sage
Date: 2025
Materials: Carving in locally grown Elm burl, various woods and brass beads, Sassafras, enamel paint, leather, thread
Dimensions: 550 x 280 x 300mm
Exhibited in Of Counting and Devotion at Craft Victoria and in 'Looking Up' Edinburgh Festival 2025, Scott Lawrie Gallery
Image credit: Claire Armstrong
At the heart of the exhibition, The Sage emerges - a hand-carved face formed from a local burl. He is the orchestrator, weaving meaning from numbers and symbols, a master of hidden knowledge and sacred patterns. Draped in strands of prayer beads of varying sizes, he embodies contemplation and mystery, measuring the immeasurable and guiding us toward deeper reflection.
Excerpt Craft Victoria exhibition statement
'The Sage by Australian artist Wanda Gillespie is sensitively carved from a gnarly lump of wood. In a room dominated by precision and power, this presence brings a different kind of authority; a quiet shift in our centre of gravity. Rooted in the earth, it suggests that knowing isn’t always cognitive. That there are forces which see without the need for metrics or algorithmic scanning. The Sage feels timeless and stoic – a reminder that endurance may be the only form of resistance left.'
Excerpt by Scott Lawrie for 'Looking Up' exhibition, at Scott Lawrie Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, Edinburgh Festival.
Date: 2025
Materials: Carving in locally grown Elm burl, various woods and brass beads, Sassafras, enamel paint, leather, thread
Dimensions: 550 x 280 x 300mm
Exhibited in Of Counting and Devotion at Craft Victoria and in 'Looking Up' Edinburgh Festival 2025, Scott Lawrie Gallery
Image credit: Claire Armstrong
At the heart of the exhibition, The Sage emerges - a hand-carved face formed from a local burl. He is the orchestrator, weaving meaning from numbers and symbols, a master of hidden knowledge and sacred patterns. Draped in strands of prayer beads of varying sizes, he embodies contemplation and mystery, measuring the immeasurable and guiding us toward deeper reflection.
Excerpt Craft Victoria exhibition statement
'The Sage by Australian artist Wanda Gillespie is sensitively carved from a gnarly lump of wood. In a room dominated by precision and power, this presence brings a different kind of authority; a quiet shift in our centre of gravity. Rooted in the earth, it suggests that knowing isn’t always cognitive. That there are forces which see without the need for metrics or algorithmic scanning. The Sage feels timeless and stoic – a reminder that endurance may be the only form of resistance left.'
Excerpt by Scott Lawrie for 'Looking Up' exhibition, at Scott Lawrie Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, Edinburgh Festival.