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I started sculpting at school, studying Art to A-Level, before choosing to follow a career in science rather than the arts, a mechanical engineering undergraduate at Durham University, followed by a PhD in aerodynamics at Cambridge. I now work for a major oil services company and am attempting to develop a parallel career as a sculptor.
My work has always been figurative and also very varied stylistically. Recently I have focused on the lighter side of life with the naive or caricature style pieces. These pieces are intended as gently humorous, a kind view at the quirks of people. The naïve style originally came from drawing real people; seated on a low bench at a railway station I realized that I was looking at them from the same perspective as a small child, hence the tapered shape and emphasis on the feet with the relatively small heads. I think this accounts for the fascination many children seem to have with these pieces.
I also enjoy doing more 'serious' work including figure studies and have also recently started to do more portraiture. The representational work is a different challenge to the naive style - the nude is still, in my view, one of the most absorbing subjects while portraiture has the added challenge of capturing the spirit of the sitter. The human figure and body language is endlessly varied, fascinating and ties my work into the longer sculptural tradition.
Terracotta is an ancient sculptural material, with a far longer pedigree than bronze and great durability. Many of the world's oldest surviving sculptures are in this medium. It is immediate, without the mechanical processes necessary to produce a work in bronze. In many ways I prefer unadorned red terracotta as my finished material, especially for more representational pieces. I feel that this focuses on the form of the piece and the texture of the surfaces, without the distraction and uncertainties of glazing. Glazing is an important part of the caricatures, however, emphasising their exaggerated nature.
Bas-relief is also a new departure for me, though the form is also an ancient one. I have always admired Greek and particularly Assyrian low relief work and aim in time to work up relatively large pieces composed from multiple panels of terracotta. A significant advantage of the form is that it can be wall mounted as readily as any picture - the space that three dimensional work occupies in the modern home is a real consideration.