Commissioned for the 2020 exhibition Big Fish Eat Little Fish at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Belgium, this sculpture was originally made in Balata rubber in 2019. It marked a pivotal moment in Upritchard’s material experimentation, as she began working at larger scale by building steel armatures padded with bubble wrap. Hosing the rubber with cold water allowed her to control its pliability and cooling rate without submerging it fully—extending her practice beyond the limitations of water-bath sculpting.
The sculpture depicts a pair of elongated figures—one with exaggeratedly long legs, the other with extended arms—drawing on the Japanese folklore of Ashinaga-tenaga, symbiotic beings who fish together in deep water. In this work, the duo is shown eeling in an implied body of water: they stand submerged up to their necks, their anatomical exaggerations enabling them to survive and fish simultaneously. The long legs allow them to keep their heads above water; the long arms reach deep below to catch the eels, which twist and swim around their bodies in apparent weightlessness. The sculptural composition evokes both effort and fluidity—suggesting mutual reliance, adaptability, and a surreal aquatic ecology.
The stylised forms also nod to Upritchard’s long-standing affinity with the lively, elongated figures of Quentin Blake’s illustrations for Roald Dahl, blending a sense of playfulness with folkloric narrative.
The work was cast in bronze in 2021 at Fonderia Artistica Guastini, preserving the detail and surface tactility of the original rubber. At this time, Upritchard was also beginning to develop works suitable for outdoor display, and the durability of bronze marked a step toward engaging new public and environmental contexts.