Tristan da Cunha News Abroad

Sarah visited Tristan on the 2016 Agulhas trip, aiming to get inspiration for her art.

The work she is exhibiting in March is called Glyn's Mathematics and was inspired by Joe and Annes dog Glyn. Here's the story:

When I first arrived at Tristan I felt a bit out of place. On the boat it was wonderful to meet new people and make such a voyage but when we landed on Tristan I suddenly realised I was the only 'tourist' there! Everyone else seemed to either go and meet their families or go about their new or existing jobs and so help and be part of the Tristan community. In a society where everyone lends a hand to everyone it seemed wrong that I was just walking about without any purpose. There was nothing - I felt - I could do to really contribute to the islanders' life, being an artist. Who needed a contemporary artist there? People sometimes very kindly asked me how was my painting going, but I almost never paint! I did not have the heart to tell them. Of course I had great fun looking for sheep with Joe or feeding the animals and I really cherished doing the dishes and chatting away with Anne about Tristan and its history and watching Poldark with them. Yet I walked around the island everyday a bit more forlorn and Anne, I think, noticed this. In her kindness she suggested I throw some sticks at their elderly dog Glyn, who despite his rheumatism would not say no to a juicy stick.

Sarah's Gyn's Mathematics Story Part II

So I did and to my surprise saw that every time I threw a stick I only got back the exact half of it, as he would bite it in two equal pieces. I named this Glyn's Mathematics in my mind, as if he was working on his own mathematical system, like the fibonacci range or Pythagoras. So right before I left Tristan I played this stick game with him one last time and collected all the bits that came from this one original stick. Back in Holland I cast them in bronze, in which process the original wood gets burnt and lost. So even though the sculpture that I now have is just a copy of what Glyn did it is a constant reminder of how he helped me find my role on Tristan, and a copy that will probably last for quite some time!