When I was young, my mother would cut up my apples.

 

Through a series of rhythmic cuts and gestures, she would core and section the apple into geometric slices. “Here you go,” she would say.

 

As I grew up, cut-up apples became something I had when I was sick or sad. And as I continued to grow, I soon began cutting up apples for others. By cutting up the apple, they become easier and more entertaining to eat; a way of delicately offering care and support to loved ones that are young, old, sick, or struggling. A cut-up apple is not an offering of love, but evidence of love - a love that is expressed and experienced unconsciously and continuously.

 

Winner of Best in Object Design and Homewares for Design Fringe: Designers on Your Doorstep, Here you go, originated several years earlier as a way of processing family members waning health. Never fully realised, I was drawn to it once again after our ongoing lockdowns and the death of my father. As opposed to fixating on what I lacked and lost, Here you go, focused on, and reminded me of, the unspoken love I was/we were surrounded by and unconsciously giving.

 

The sculptures are playful exaggerations of the simple yet powerful moment detailed above. Each sculpture is created by carving an apple (purchased at the supermarket above Campbell Arcade) which is directly used in a burnout cast – replacing the apple flesh with molten bronze. By casting the apples, the sentiments of love and commitment are intensified to an almost uncomfortably kitsch level. Rather than devouring the love, it will survive as a solid, hefty, and yet quiet, often overlooked reminder of the connection between two loved ones - the mother and the daughter, the supporter and the supported, the cutter and the receiver.