Hive Sculpture

My work is informed by dramatic forms, the interplay between them, the space they occupy and the relationship with the audience. I aim to communicate powerfully and directly with the viewer. I believe it should speak for itself and invite you to engage in your own dialogue with the piece. I take delight in listening to other people's interpretations which can often inspire and lead to other new ideas, new directions. I am drawn to solid geometrical forms and hard heavy materials. I like my work to feel permanent-anchored to the earth-to the site. The strength and weight of the materials I use give me a sense of comfort, of being grounded- immovable. Injecting air into these forms creates space, internal and external - positive and negative. Intersections is one of a series of cube forms. I leave the interpretation of the piece open. Perhaps the visitor could see it as a series of journeys or a 3D map of a city. The glass tubes bend the spaces and distort the geometry - creating new vistas. I have various ways of working. I explore basic geometric shapes using both 2D and 3D cad (computer aided design). Components are then laser or water cut from my drawings to produce a set of parts which I then use to create a piece. Using the blanks or waste- Buckminster Fuller says, "Waste is nothing more than an un-harvested resource". I play with new ideas and create new forms which retain some of the history of the original piece. This often produces exciting results. My work has always been influenced by classical art and Architecture. The Pantheon in Rome- almost 2000 years old and still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. Palladio's Redentore the façade of which was inspired by the Pantheon and the Palladian villa's in Vicenza. Renzo Piano's 308 metre high vertical city The Shard...awe inspiring! I am drawn to their monumental scale their sheer mass and their simplicity of form. I am inspired by works such as Michelangelo's prisoners how they seem to struggle to free themselves from the stone. Henry Moore's three piece sculpture "˜Vertebrae' its grounded weighty forms are so sensual. Auguste Rodin's "˜Gates of Hell' a monumental work with a rich narrative and Anish Kapoor's "˜Cloud gate' like a jelly bean made of liquid mercury. It weighs 110 tons and yet looks almost weightless.