I have re imagined the lying man, the one I placed in the Butley mudflats..
The second cast of the edition has returned from his travels and now sits atop a billiard table in a place called Potton Hall, nr Westelton, Suffolk… it’s part of the ‘Waveney Valley Sculpture trail’ which opened this weekend. It is open daily until June 27th.
It reminds me of a Stanley Kubrick film set, exposed and isolated. The splendid billiard light reveals a vulnerability. It’s good to be able to get up close, to see the surface detail and weathering I’d not seen for 5 years or more.
This is how close you get to him usually!
We boxed in the table , creating a platform far bigger than i’d normally make, which is rather dramatic.. The cues and score board are still on the wall, I measured up for a pot, leaving blue chalk marks on him, interesting.. give it a go if you’re there, i’ll count them up at the end…It’s well worth a visit.
‘THE HOMECOMING’
Well I was asked to respond to the Norman history of Ebbsfleet, it was originally called Sweynes Camp and is purported to have been a Norman settlement.
The Sculpture’s called ‘Homecoming’ and is about a man who has been away from home, feeling he has been changed by stressful situations. He is returning home to a family and village that may also have changed. I’ve tried to make him tentative.
I loved developing this character, embellishing him, creating acoutrements, (a Norman word I’d wager!) using my old work overalls, aprons etc…
I read Paul Kingsnorths ‘The Wake’ trilogy as a part of the research. Set in 1067 in the Fens and written in what the author calls ‘Shadow tongue ‘ a simplified old English which serves to evoke perfectly the life of ‘Buccmaster of Holland’, whose family and life have been destroyed in the savage merciless invasion. The story follows his efforts to raise a partisan gang in the forests, plotting and picking off Norman soldiers as they impose impossible hardship on those Britons left alive.
Aswell as Kasuo Ishiguro’s ‘The Buried Giant’, also set in ancient Briton / Saxon England.. wonderful source material.
The sculpture will leave the courtyard at Tisbury for his new home in Ebbsfleet Kent, immediatly after the talk. So if you are tempted to go and see him, i’m afraid you’ll have to go in the next few days. Although Ebbsfleet by all accounts is very nice!
New Big Bronze:
The First 8ft Walking Man is finished!
I’ve been privately commissioned by a wonderful patron to realise a long held dream, to create a gang of 5, 8ft Walking Men.
We installed the first one this month, said patron wishes his privacy to be respected so there are no shots of him in situ, I do have a rather beautiful set of studio photographs though.
It will take me two years to complete the set, its rather a daunting undertaking..once the first set has been installed i’ll be casting a second to exhibit. The unveiling of the series will be at Messums Wiltshire next September, before they go on a museum tour of Australia with a show of other new large works in 2023.
The second one is being finished as we speak, you’ll have to wait untll next months blog to see him!!
BREAKING NEWS
The belly of the giant is being assembled, Eddy looks as though he’s enjoying himself! Hopefully the top half will be finished by the end of July and a crane will lift it onto the legs, in an exciting and rather fitting finale to a four year epic journey, oddyssey, slog…
BREAK OUT!
Eva, Tom and Nhung, are detained in order to finish wax sticks for a very large ‘Loaded ‘ sculpture being cast, they are to be fixed to this torso .. which has a body and legs too.. Louis stands guard.
(I know this is hammy apologies )
Eva Terzoni is leaving us after years of wonderful and devoted service, she will be pursueing a sculptural career in her home town of Florence.. Putting to good use the skills she has mastered with us..
Quite why she’d leave the wonderful life I’ve created for her at the Fire Station is beyond me..
Good luck Eva and thankyou, we’ll miss your relentless laughter.
Oh and by the way..
I’ve just started Instagram.. a great compliment to the blog..
check out : Laurenceedwards.bronze
Lx
laurenceedwards 