Carl Roberts - Sculptor

11/05/2026

Title: “Seek the Deep”

Medium :Wood (Unknown driftwood) 

Dimensions:  22x102x 18cm

Image by Heidi Christie

I like the words that “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” (Shakespeare: Hamlet, 1.5.) Despite AI, a computer cannot feel or see a piece of wood let alone know it’s potential. It functions on an algorithm designed by a human.  “Ay, there’s the rub.” (Shakespeare: Hamlet, 3.1.)

I know from experience that this piece of wood is stained by the natural process of lying in a bog. I know that the colouration is permanent.  I imagine that it has been lying in that bog for a very long time.  I am not sure if it is classified as bogwood, but it was certainly on its way to becoming bogwood.  I am not an expert in wood, but I can recognise a few woods and I have several examples of my work in the book “Southern African Wood” (Dyer, James and James. 2016) but I have not mastered the recognition of the grain pattern through a ten x magnification. It gives you a “finger print” to identify the wood with absolute certainty.

I am in the business of making art, not furniture or buildings. In this sculpture I hope that I have conveyed a feeling. The feeling is about escaping the real world.

Escaping the real world by diving, whether with an aqualung, snorkel or just putting my head under the water has been practice of mine since I was six years old.  The aquatic world is a world apart, and it has been a retreat from personal difficulties. When I first started I lived in Tanzania and spent a lot of time snorkeling and exploring the magical coral reefs.  Once your head is in the water, there is an alien world to discover. Its sounds and its sights are strange.  There is a constant crackle of crustations, the colours are strange, and there are caves, holes and ledges to explore.  It is unlike anything on land.

The water also provides a lens to view the alien (human) beings differently. Their bodies glide and their hair floats and for their time in the water they are graceful and rhythmical.  It is for me, a sensual space, a dream world that is a bit of heaven on earth.

This sculpture is at

22/04/2026

Title: “Thick Willy”
Medium : Wood (unknown)
Dimensions: 154 x 38 x 28 cm
Image by .za
“Coneheads” was a comedic science fiction film which I did not see but the characters in the posters look like some people I know. Having a cone head does not make you look intelligent. Physically, it looks as if you have a small brain. Hence “Thick Willy”.

Lack of intelligence or being “thick” is a reason to justify why one distances or shuns that person. Some of that probably has something to do with the fact that the average person thinks that they have above average intelligence. Which is arrogant and conceited. Kindness is much more important quality to have.

I have not always thought that I was intelligent. I once believed that I was a bit dim, but I‘ve now joined the ranks of the average being. Even if I think I am above average I realise that there are all sorts of intelligences. For instance: My friend is very quick witted but not a deep thinker. I have taken advice from a mentally challenged person and his advice proved better than the engineer I was also talking to about same problem. The writer Malcom Gladwell had something to say about geniuses. In short, he says that they specialise and know a lot about a specific thing but can be socially (or in other areas) inept.

The worst part of failing a matric was that I was saddled with a lack of confidence. That was something that I carried with me until I graduated at Rhodes in 1985 at the top of my class.

I went to university to fail! I thought a failed university student was an upgrade from a failed matric student. I was surprised to get through my first year and that gave me hope and a financial problem that I was not prepared for. I had saved money working on the railways as a truck driver, but it was only enough for one year then I was supposed to graduate to the failed student status but I had failed to fail!

Of course, “Thick Willy” is also thick in other places. Perhaps, a cone head with benefits.

17/04/2026

Title: “Thick Willy”

Medium : Wood (unknown)

Dimensions: 154 x 38 x 28 cm

Image by Heidi Monika Winkler-Christie

“Coneheads” was a comedic science fiction film which I did not see but the characters in the posters look like some people I know. Having a cone head does not make you look intelligent. Physically, it looks as if you have a small brain. Hence “Thick Willy”.

Lack of intelligence or being “thick” is a reason to justify why one distances or shuns that person. Some of that probably has something to do with the fact that the average person thinks that they have above average intelligence. Which is arrogant and conceited. Kindness is much more important quality to have.

I have not always thought that I was intelligent. I once believed that I was a bit dim, but I‘ve now joined the ranks of the average being. Even if I think I am above average I realise that there are all sorts of intelligences. For instance: My friend is very quick witted but not a deep thinker. I have taken advice from a mentally challenged person and his advice proved better than the engineer I was also talking to about same problem. The writer Malcom Gladwell had something to say about geniuses. In short, he says that they specialise and know a lot about a specific thing but can be socially (or in other areas) inept.

The worst part of failing a matric was that I was saddled with a lack of confidence. That was something that I carried with me until I graduated at Rhodes in 1985 at the top of my class.

I went to university to fail! I thought a failed university student was an upgrade from a failed matric student. I was surprised to get through my first year and that gave me hope and a financial problem that I was not prepared for. I had saved money working on the railways as a truck driver, but it was only enough for one year then I was supposed to graduate to the failed student status but I had failed to fail!

Of course, “Thick Willy” is also thick in other places. Perhaps, a cone head with benefits.

14/03/2026

Title: “Platanna” Xenopus Laevis
Medium: Wood (bougainvillea, I think) Driftwood.
Dimensions: 15x27x18cm
Photo credit: BrightBlue Photography
Once, when I sold work through Christies in London, I was told that reptiles in general were not very popular. However, my reptiles have been well received and have been fun to make.
I made another beauty called the “blushing love frog” which went off to Australia shortly after it was shown in a gallery in Durban. It seems Australians have a special relationship with cane toads that have invaded and commandeered a large part of their island. Perhaps an icon the Australians can relate to.
I had some experience with frogs and toads as a child. I liked to catch a stray toad in the house or one in in the garden. Perhaps it was to terrorise my mother. It may have been merely so that someone took some notice of me. Since then, I have accidentally caught a few Platannas whilst fishing in freshwater dams or rivers. They like meat, the same bait I might use to catch a barbel but since I do not eat frogs’ legs, they were of no use to me so the ugly, slimy, buggers were immediately thrown back.
The Platanna’s have been to places that I will never go to; Space! They were aboard the Endeavour shuttle in 1992 as a science experiment to see if their eggs could be fertilised in a no gravity situation. The returnee tadpoles can be considered as the first alien life forms to have entered earth. (Google). They are very alien looking, have beady eyes and flat, slimy bodies that are repulsive but sweet and non-threatening.
I do not consider myself as a wildlife artist so the impetus is art and not a resemblance to an animal. It was the wood that made me do it. I started out looking for a fat piece of wood. I was thinking about Henry Moore and things like his sheep piece. Something with volume! As I worked, the pattern and colour of the wood emerged and somehow, that got me onto the frog.
The day the Platanna was completed a representative from a gallery arrived and took the Platanna away in his mother ship. By the time he got home he was seduced by the slimy thing and it was sold.

14/03/2026

Photo credit: Heidi of Brightblue Photography

10/03/2026

07/02/2026

Title: “Young Man”

Medium: Bone (Giraffe Leg)

Dimension: 173x31x40cm

Photo credit:  Heidi of Brightblue Photography

I have previously put two long, giraffe bones together to make a figure (“Flower Power”). The first one was Inspired by my daughter This one is inspired by my son.  Perhaps because he has come home from university to drink dad’s beer.

I am proud of both my children as unlike me at that age they both have degrees.  If only they could get a job!  I think it is a difficult for them.  Despite having no degree or even a matric I got jobs easily.  Admittedly I was aiming low but it is not so easy anymore.

My daughter, Lily, has a master degree (Cum Laude) and Jack has an honour’s degree in I.T.   Two years on Lily still has not found formal employment.  I imagine that with the political and economic hurdles they will struggle.  Perhaps the only option is to be self-employed, as Lily is, or to go abroad. 

Unemployment is not the only problem a young person has to deal with.  I lacked confidence, perhaps all young men do.  I was not big or muscle bound in fact I was the opposite, in that I was small, weak and ignorant and like a lot of young people, I did stupid things.  I was desperate for a girlfriend and unsurprisingly no one was interested.  I was not a good prospect!  

Eventually I got a job on the railways. It earned me a salary and with it I managed to trade prawns for a girlfriend (Margaret).  That brought hope, stability and happiness into my life.  It is amazing what a few prawns can do for you.

This sculpture is gangly and gawky as teenagers are.   However, my son who is twenty something has started to fill out.   He has the benefits of youth and is now taller, bigger and stronger than me. 

 I hope he enjoys his youthfulness and I have no doubt that given time, he will do well.

07/02/2026

Title: “Young Man”
Medium: Bone (Giraffe Leg)
Dimension: 173x31x40cm
Photo credit: Heidi of Brightblue Photography
I have previously put two long, giraffe bones together to make a figure (“Flower Power”). The first one was Inspired by my daughter This one is inspired by my son. Perhaps because he has come home from university to drink dad’s beer.
I am proud of both my children as unlike me at that age they both have degrees. If only they could get a job! I think it is a difficult for them. Despite having no degree or even a matric I got jobs easily. Admittedly I was aiming low but it is not so easy anymore.
My daughter, Lily, has a master degree (Cum Laude) and Jack has an honour’s degree in I.T. Two years on Lily still has not found formal employment. I imagine that with the political and economic hurdles they will struggle. Perhaps the only option is to be self-employed, as Lily is, or to go abroad.
Unemployment is not the only problem a young person has to deal with. I lacked confidence, perhaps all young men do. I was not big or muscle bound in fact I was the opposite, in that I was small, weak and ignorant and like a lot of young people, I did stupid things. I was desperate for a girlfriend and unsurprisingly no one was interested. I was not a good prospect!
Eventually I got a job on the railways. It earned me a salary and with it I managed to trade prawns for a girlfriend (Margaret). That brought hope, stability and happiness into my life. It is amazing what a few prawns can do for you.
This sculpture is gangly and gawky as teenagers are. However, my son who is twenty something has started to fill out. He has the benefits of youth and is now taller, bigger and stronger than me.
I hope he enjoys his youthfulness and I have no doubt that given time, he will do well.

04/01/2026

Christmas is a family affair, so too in this household. Joanna is back from the U.K, Lily has arrived with her boyfriend from Cape Town and Jack is back from varsity where he has completed an Honours degree in IT. The are a few extras in this movie. Margeret is an old friend and a Christmas orphan, and one of Jacks friends tagged along.
We all had a fabulous meal and a jolly time together.
The perception is that this is the time I make lots of money. Nothing can be further from the truth. It is a time when we spend but I do not earn. It seems everyone else is too busy building sandcastles to visit the galleries and thus it is a time that I rarely make a sale.
Be that as it may, Joanna is going at it full steam. Cakes are baked , presents are bought and the Christmas tree, lights and decorations are put up.. The 5 rand coin in my pocket is turned over ten times before I part with it to buy someone a cheap pair of socks or underpants.
It reminds me of wisdom I received from a domestic worker ( Winnie, I think) in Grahamstown many years ago. She asked me if I was going to get married and when I replied that I would not, she was shocked and said “ but who is going to spend your money!” Now I know!
If the truth be told, the shoe is on the other foot, as my wife is the only one in this household with what can be described as a regular job. So, when the December financial drought descends on me it is she who sponsors the party and keeps the family jolly.
I am hoping for the prosperous New Year part.
A belated Happy holidays and wishing all my friends a prosperous New Year.

29/11/2025

Title: “Mud Maiden”

Medium:  Wood, mud and linseed oil

Dimensions: 71x62x21cm

Photo credit:  Heidi of Brightblue Photography

I am pleased with this work.  It has a graphic quality that I like.  It is, of course, the summation of previous experiments and an ongoing process of discovery with everything that I do.

I am not sure why I do new things.  I know that I would be more financially successful if I stuck to previous successes.  I suspect it has to do with my ADD as I am easily bored and need to find new ways to entertain myself, I explore new ideas.  If I stuck to ‘previous successes’ I would still be making my very successful raku eggs that I made in my 4th year at university (1984) and by now I would probably be very bored and demotivated.

Some people think I am an artist but in reality, I just entertain myself.  It is the good and the bad of my life.  When the money flows it is a fantastic life.  When the money dries up, it is what is wrong with me. An indulgence, a lack of responsibility, selfishness!  I try and remember the good times and ignore any criticism.   It is what it is and it has got us to where we are and that seems to me to be a good place and a good life.

This new thing comes out of the old things. I make bases with Ironstones that are often covered with a thick “mud” (I suspect a mixture of rusted iron and silica).  In this work I have mixed the “mud” with linseed oil and plastered it into the cracks and holes of the wood sculpture.  It takes a few days to dry but then can be sanded and polished.  It improves the form and gives the work a marvellous graphic quality.

I think that this work has a primitive feel, like that of an ancient artifact or something done by a stone age tribesman and it is at the same time modern.  Perhaps it is because the marks remind me of things made by the K*K (Klee, klimt, and Kokoschka). 

There the words of a professor who at Rhodes art school (before my time) talked about “personalised mud” and as something positive. I like my mud.  It is definitively personalised and I think it works

29/11/2025