‘Someday I Will be Somebody’

Describing how his body of work reflects the theme ‘Pathways’, Neil Marlow says: ‘At the beginning of my creative journey there was a song released called ‘Someday I’ by Wendy and Lisa (1989). There’s a line in it that goes, ‘Someday I will be somebody’, and full of youthful optimism it resonated with me.

This ring is a reflection on the journey that followed and considers how things turned out all these many years later. The ring form was developed out of a font pattern from the line Someday I will be somebody. I used a method of typographic abstraction similar to that used by the Japanese outsider artist Takanori Herai. He would hide the words in his handwritten diary by turning each page into a wonderful unique abstract pattern, colouring in the shapes created by the letters, according to his own rules. The outcome of my process was also a pleasing pattern. I took a piece from the pattern and made what I imagined to be a fragment of signage, part of a larger sign that once joyously and confidently announcing my hopes. The fragmentation suggests the journey may not have gone to plan, but still a part of the original glorious ambition remains intact.

Mediums: Ebony, sterling silver, brass, shakudo; dimensions: Ring size (UK): P; Face dimensions – 21mm x 39mm at the widest point.