My
interest
in sculpture dates back to the l960s and l970s when I attended classes
at an Art School in Hertford, Herts, UK, and also at the Camden Art
Centre, Finchley, London. Two of my instructors were the established
sculptors Mark Harvey and Jesse Watkins, and three others had worked as
assistants to Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Eduardo Paolozzi. I
have worked with stone, wood, clay and plaster. I also obtained
instruction in art metalwork, and I have experimented with mixed media.
My
work
is mainly abstract, but I sometimes bridge the gap between
representational forms and abstract ones. This is in part due to the
influence of organic shapes on my sculpture. At present I am working
mainly in plaster, built up on wire armatures. By a combination of
adding plaster and carving or wearing it down I achieve the final form.
This is then finished with a bronze patina, or caste in bronze. In
Sydney one of my abstract pieces, known as "Diad", has been caste in
bronze at Alan Crawford's foundry. I am now working on another piece and
have sketches or clay maquettes for at least two others .
I
have been influenced strongly by the established British school of
abstract sculpture, particularly Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, but
also Lynn Chadwick and Reg Butler. My interest in organic forms can be
related to the paintings, drawings and prints of Graham Sutherland.
As well as a part-time
sculptor, I am also an
author, and I earned my living until retirement in l997 as a scientist,
specialising in genetics and cell biology. I now have much more time
available to involve myself in sculpture. I have joined the Sculpture
Society and plan to exhibit pieces for sale at the various exhibition
organised by the Society or by others.
As well as exhibiting
and selling in galleries in and around Sydney, I have sold bronzes abroad.
Seven in the USA: Seattle, Berkeley (California), Albany (New York state),
Texas, and Kentucky. Four in the UK: Cambridge, London, Sussex, Hertford. I
have also donated sculptures, for example, to Macquarie University, the
Childrens Medical Research Institute, Westmead, and the Royal Society, London
