It sometimes amazes me how some people seem to have a blind spot when it comes to sculpture. I have seen gallery visitors so concentrated on the paintings on the walls that they miss the three-dimensional art. I suspect that they have never discovered a ’first love’ sculpture. The one that opens your eyes to a whole art form. Tactile, confident, unapologetically demanding its space. Maybe once you find that first sculpture then your eyes become keener. You see the sculptures amongst the paintings.
When I was a child, I might have been 6 or maybe 8 years old, I was out on one of our family country walks. Tired of the relentless drone of a grown up conversation and full of restless child energy I ran ahead through the forest. And there it was, in a small glade where two woodland paths crossed.
Standing on a stone plinth was this wonderful green bronze wild boar. Just it and I and a million leaves sharing a space. That feeling of suddenly finding it there gave me a sense of ownership.
So the two of us stood observing each other until the adults caught up and I could proudly show off MY unexpected discovery. So yes I learnt early to see sculptures.
I have now been sculpting since 2010. It has been a wonderful journey of development and of growing confidence.
I like clay. I adore wax. I love the feeling of holding a bronze sculpture that I have crafted. I guess it’s the stirring of a sense of legacy. That this sculpture will endure long after my passing. Longer still. One, two, three thousand years, maybe more. How many of those eyes that can see sculptures will look upon it? How many hands will stroke it?
I learnt to work with wax and bronze in the studio of my dear sculptor friend Mario. He has a studio and foundry in a small town in the middle of Mexico. The roof is covered by pidgeons and the studio floor is full of art in varying degrees of completion. It is also is a perfect hiding place for scorpions and black widow spiders so you learn quickly to tread carefully.
I had been sculpting for a couple of years when I arrived there, but by the time I left, 4 years later, I had become a sculptor.
Most of my art is figurative. I try to depict interactions. My favourite goal is to create a tension between two figures, or between two elements of a sculpture. I hope this allows the viewer to relate to the art and to make their own interpretations.
I have one bronze figure of a woman, standing firmly on the ground, with both hands she is holding on to a male figure that is flying upwards. For me this sculpture represents a balance and harmony in a relationship. I showed it at a gallery in Stockholm, and a woman came over and stood transfixed in front of it. Her husband had recently passed away and she was caught in her grief and could not let go. This she saw so clearly reflected in my sculpture. It is humbling to realise that art can mean so many different things to those who view it.
Like when a child looks at an old wild boar sculpture in a forest.