Blue Smoker

"Totem poles to me are a kind of giants, ancestors, guardians, silent witnesses."
Éric Croes, 2024.

The totem pole Blue Smoker, which stands nearly two metres tall, is part of Éric Croes' Devils series, which consists of large "devils" built up from a variety of ceramic elements, each alluding to themes like obsession, sin and addiction. A notebook filled with jottings and ideas is placed at the base of each totem pole. The artist brings these elements together in an intuitive way, searching for a certain rhythm between volumes and colours.

For Blue Smoker, the artist removes nine objects from their natural or domestic context and stacks them on top of each other. Rather than preserve their usual functions and dimensions, he distorts them. A familiar teapot, for instance, appears to contain a poisonous or hallucinogenic potion and becomes a source of magic and witchcraft. Lemons have grown disproportionately large and take the shape of breasts. A pitcher is turned into a blue giant, his eyes watering from the smoke from his pipe (the titular Blue Smoker). Like the other pieces in the series, the totem pole is crowned with a candle, which turns the whole thing into a kind of beacon. Big as he is, Blue Smoker seems to be staring at us. Without passing judgement, he casts an inquisitive eye on our obsessions and rituals, allowing us to project our own impulses.