Freya Sculpture

Michael Talbot is a British sculptor, born in Staffordshire in the north of England in1959. After completing a BA honours degree in Sculpture, he gained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Arts in London for post graduate study in 1980, winning the coveted Landseer prize in 1983. He studied further at The Sir Henry Doulton Sculpture School under Colin Melbourne ARCA and Dame Elizabeth Frink RA. Michael was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1997 and was elected a member of the National Sculpture Society (USA) in 2012. The inspiration for Talbot`s work has always been the human form and its dramatic poetry. It is this, together with his exquisite skills that make his work so individual, intricate and beautiful. Talbot creates the original clay sculpture which he then casts into bronze, uniquely finishing and patinating each sculpture. This process is wholly under his control allowing him to enhance and refine the final image. The wonder and fascination of sculpture is its ability to be a solid form that can be seen, touched and walked around and yet remain an object of pure spirit. In simple terms ‘Freya’ is beauty in balance. Michael says "I have always been fascinated in mythology, tales of old and the strength of women. Freya was the most beautiful of the Nordic Goddesses, influencing love, beauty, fertility, war, wealth, divination and magic. I have been working on many projects recently, with London’s Royal Ballet and No Fit State Circus - working with and recording some of the most talented performing artists in the world. My inspiration for the form of Freya came from my recent work with Circus performers, in particular watching mesmerising tightrope walking. My intention was to try to capture that breathless moment of tension in the performance, when the artist’s balance is seemingly about to be lost, creating an element of chaos, then the recovery; poise recaptured in a moment of grace. Freya is my attempt to hold this illusive moment in a column of timeless patinated bronze".