Jo Clayton

The concept of being judged at death by one’s deeds whilst alive is a common theme throughout all religions. Charon, more commonly known as ‘the Ferryman’, was believed by the Ancient Greeks to carry the souls of the dead across the river Styx to the underworld. Once across, Hades would judge whether the souls were to pass into one of the 3 realms: Tartarus, a deep pit for punishment, the Asphodel Meadows, a neutral place for the ordinary people, and Elysium, the fields of paradise for the heroic and the virtuous.  This sculpture is crafted from steel and treated with various salt solutions to accelerate the corrosion process, reflecting the decay of the human body. The hand represents those souls who are unable to pay the ferryman and are forced to haunt the living. It is made from copper wire, and its base is an old copper penny signifying the ‘Obol’, which was placed in the mouth of the deceased.