Excerpt:
'I have so many ideas,' he says. 'I can get carried
away with the plans. I have to stop myself and get on
with building.' He shows me a small portfolio filled
with recent drawings of childhood memories. These are
not slick sketches. They're a skilled child's drawings,
careful of clothing and the details of objects. Duncan
looks on with pleasure and pride. Each triggers a story
from him. I mention that his childhood seemed longer
than mine. 'Well, I'm not sure it's over yet,' he says.
Duncan leads me into a small room now dominated by Migraine
Headache, an overwhelmingly detailed Big Ben-shaped
sculpture. Instead of bearing a clock face, each side
is an aspect of his own head. There are spinning peep-show
dials below, lightning shapes above, and crowns of winged
devils and flying angels. He's been working on it for
ten years, and it's not finished yet. I put my face
into the front negatively sculpted face, and look through
the sculpture's eyes.
Tom Duncan
in his studio with Coney Island, 2001, photo: Ted Degener
(left); 1939-A War Toy for a German Child-1945, 1989,
mixed media, 15 x 27 x 13 ins., 38 x 68.5 x 33 cm, photo:
Dan Lipow, courtesy Andrew Edlin Gallery. Private Collection
(right)