Richard Ducker’s sculpture continues to surprise the viewer and defy categorization; his ideas and objects are influenced by diverse sources and paradigms that he brings together with a characteristic bravura. The sculptural objects he makes are at times both somber and mischievous, often imbued with a sassy knowingness. Straying deliberately into various genres such as the sexually charged fetish object or metaphorically overloaded ‘memento mori’, we encounter a rich conflation of image and object that uses and abuses our notions of taste and cliché and turns them upside down.
Just as humour and irony are integral keys to understanding Ducker's work so is the process of making that we compelled to consider in the encounter with the work. Construction, selection (of found objects /ready made/ assisted ready mades), the combination of materials and eventual deployment in a space are the main considerations in Ducker's sculpture.
Ducker’s sculptures seduce us with their convincing surfaces of concrete or fur, glitter and plastic; sometimes the pieces are absurd, other times they are sober suggesting loss and vulnerability; the incongruous arrangements inspired by collage and assemblage refer to the biographical and domestic background of the ideas and inspiration. Success in Ducker's work lies in use of process and skillful manipulation of these diverse physical elements that add up to a kind of dyslexic personal poetry and grabs us by the collar with both humour and pathos.
