Text

Near the Diamanthorst kindergarten is a bronze statue of a lost 'would-be explorer'. The perky toddler seems to have arrived at this spot more or less by accident during an adventurous exploration of the city. The little world citizen looks uninhibited, cheerful and self-confident and seems to want nothing more than to discover the wide world.

Toddler on Tricycle' is an uncomplicated and unpretentious sculpture by Renske Morks. Child and tricycle are roughly modelled. Not much attention has been paid to details. Figure and bicycle have merged, as it were, into one compact and closed form. The whole looks like an amorphous mass from which a recognisable representation can easily be distilled.

Morks has made no effort to create openings in the sculpture. The bronze sculpture is quite massive. Nor has the sculptor tried to suggest movement. Nevertheless, it has ultimately become a playful sculpture. It is all about spontaneity and reinforcing the suggestion of childlike simplicity and uninhibitedness. This is in contrast to most of her sculptures where the human torso forms the main motif.

The nature and dimensions of 'Toddler on a Tricycle' make this sculpture by Morks escape the traditional idea of a monumental gesture in public space. It looks rather small and does not seem to have been made on purpose for that public space. The power of imagination lies to a large extent in the unexpected and disarming presence of the toddler.