Crocodile
Ceramic, wood, acrylic paint
Crocodile is a charming composition using a recovered ceramic block painted with acrylics to
shape a dreamy crocodile's head. With this painting over the ceramic piece, the artist guides us
towards the tale of an imaginary Constance lake crocodile bathing peacefully in the grey waters.
Obviously, there are no crocodiles in Lake Constance but this sculpture invites to dream for a
moment of this possibility.
The ceramic head is delicately positioned onto a piece of driftwood collected on the shores of
the lake. The wooden plank becomes a representation of the peacefulness of the lake waters
where the imaginary crocodile enjoys the silence of existence and the tranquillity of Nature.
As with everything in Karl's art, even the elements that seem out of place or forgotten are
significant. An apparent imperfection, the rusty nail protruding out of the wood becomes more
than that. Rather unsightly at first, the nail actually transformed into the carrier of a delicate
papyrus haiku:
Lurking on the shore,
Crocodile in deep rest,
One with the silence.