Railmaster Series

The Railmaster Series began after Mary offered Mike Hooton several posts salvaged from the former Railmaster’s house in Paparoa. Her son Adam, the leading builder in our district, had recently re-piled the historic settler cottage, swapping the decaying original totara piles for modern H5 timber ones so the building could be levelled and preserved.

While Mike developed the series he reflected on the mixture of hope and grief the Railmaster would have carried through the years as he delivered messages. That train of thought led him to the two World Wars and the heavy emotional burden borne by the women who remained at home while their partners left for the front. Mike became interested in the different ways people might handle such intense feelings. The figures themselves were left deliberately raw in unglazed ceramic and set high on plinths atop the posts, as if still waiting for the Railmaster to bring word.

Each piece captures a distinct emotional response:

• The Reader loses herself in books, using fiction as a shield against the outside world.
• The Watcher (he thinks of her as the classic curtain-twitcher) finds distraction by monitoring the neighbor’s business.
• Nervous remains frozen and fearful in the centre of her post, unable to take the next step.
• Cool, Calm and Carry On rests quietly and composed, simply waiting for the letter that will decide everything.
• Too High perches right on the brink; the pressure has become unbearable and she can no longer endure it.

The posts themselves were carved while deliberately leaving the outer painted surface intact, so the historic layers of paint and embedded nails remain visible. The carved patterns echo the motifs Mike uses throughout his work, creating a visual conversation between past and present.

He has taken real care in making this series. Four posts remain, and in due course he plans to finish them with a final pair: two lovers locked in an embrace, both flooded with relief that the waiting is over and they are finally back in each other’s arms.

The work was exhibited at MGTO Gallery in the Embodiment Exhibition, and sold into private collections.