How did the two of you meet? “It was quite a romantic beginning – I was with friends in a crowded café, he came to the door with another chap. But Eric waited outside for him, holding his dog. You could call it love on first sight (for me), anyway I asked around who he was, someone said that’s Eric, I said oh very nice. Accidentally, a few weeks later we met on the doorstep of a house we both were visiting – no one home, so I offered him a lift, as he was not driving.
Our friendship grew and the extraordinary
journey began, now 40 years later we are still together.
Eric, what do you most like to do & what are your personal influences? “The influence of my Indonesian roots and African upbringing, plays an integral part in the subjects of my sculptures and
drawings, of cavorting, dancing, mythical beasts and human creatures. My recent sculptures are borrowed from antiquity, and stolen from the future, to create a heady mix of what the present entails. Sculpture for me entertains these positions of thought, piety and flight in solid form. These days I live in the rural Hunter Valley, where I enjoy singing, playing various instruments, writing and drawing, part of my everyday life-ritual. We have a huge rambling garden, a bamboo jungle teeming with birds and insects, a never ending source of inspiration for my work and a place to feel at peace, to practice my form of Yoga and meditation. I am interested in all primitive cultures especially South American and tribal music. Creative free form dancing has been a keen interest, including the Japanese style of dancing called ‘Butoh’ founded in 1959, the contorting movements and very theatrical nature it requires. Unfortunately, at present I have stopped producing the sculptures due to a medical problem with my arm and started concentrating on other mediums, going back to printmaking and drawing. It is good to broaden out my artistic creativity.” Issue 21 - July 2017
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