Perhaps the most powerful impression of Sephton’s recent work is the sheer scale of the large timbers worked to elegant vessels. One log. One vessel. Vessels have a function to contain, enclose and protect. A space is created. The thing itself, a container of quiet empty space, is gorgeous. Like a complete woman, each piece, has a simple authority and candor, which lends a positive and grounded presence to the space in which they exist.
Sephton’s current work is to some extent also influenced by an event in his youth, when a treasure trove of terracotta Amphora urns full of gold and silver Roman coins were unearthed in his home town of Dorchester. “My father took me and my brother to see the find which was displayed at our local museum. The individual crafting of each coin impressed me, but what most fascinated me were the shapes of the Amphora urns. I felt the tremendous power of their subtle form and volume in balance with their material and purpose.” say Sephton.
Dark sublime spaces contrasting tensions are themes that crop up in much of Sephton’s work. Something of the minimalist effort to uncomplicate and simplify in order to more clearly celebrate a particular aspect of nature.
Deep profile boring presents some special considerations, the first of which is the sheer bending moment of the boring bar applied to the lathe carriage. An accident resulting in the tool digging in can cause such a tremendous shock to the lathe that major castings could break. “I have a knack for making a machine tool do more than its designed capabilities.” says Sephton. “Tricky ways around the problem to achieve the desired result give me great satisfaction. Many of the timbers I use are very heavy. I rough them to size with a chainsaw then mount them between centers to turn them into a centric cylinder before freeing the live center to allow them to be bored. A two tonne shop crane is used to hoist the logs into the lathe. The maximum size of the pieces is dependent largely on how securely one can hold the log in the chuck. I rotate the work as fast as I dare without the tools complaining”
Sephton describes the form of these pieces firstly as a line on paper. “One of my favourite pieces is called just that, ‘First Line’. I drew the profile with one stroke of the pencil on paper. I noticed that the lines conformed roughly to Fibonacci and so I re drew the profile to follow Fibonacci exactly. I didn't like the result so I reverted to my ‘First Line’ which I love”.
The timber Sephton uses for this work is mostly Camphor Laurel. Environmentalists have declared Camphor Laurel a noxious and invasive weed in New South Wales. “In this world of rapidly depleting native forest I could not otherwise justify using such large fine timbers” says Sephton. “I am a member of the Pipeclay Creek Land Care Group and the Camphor Laurel I use is salvaged from areas undergoing native timber regeneration.”
