Silent custodian

Stoneware clay, slip, h, 340mm

The custodian does not speak. It holds.

This head does not organise itself around address or display. Encountered in the round, it withholds expression from every viewpoint, establishing a condition of quiet containment rather than exchange. The surface remains materially compressed, bearing the accumulated residue of modelling, abrasion, and adjustment, yet resisting expressive disclosure.

The form neither confronts nor withdraws. Its closed eyes, restrained modelling, and dense surface redirect attention away from narrative identification and toward duration. What is registered is not gesture, but time: decisions retained rather than erased, pressure held rather than released.

Within the framework of Intersentient States, this work exemplifies how perceptual reciprocity can arise without overt expression or interaction. The attentiveness sensed by the viewer is not projected onto the object, but generated through the work’s refusal to resolve itself quickly. Attention is returned repeatedly to the surface, held in suspension rather than directed toward closure.

The custodian does not act. It endures — as a vessel of retention rather than declaration — holding presence without demand, and sustaining attention through restraint rather than address.