Sculptures Archives - Brian Hillman

Smaller Sculptures
The Act of Sculpting is Like a Dance

Original maquette for 'big skipper', wax build and carve, later cast in bronze.

Alex reachinng. Made in plaster, cast in bronze, very light patination.

meeting of equals. These characters have different ideas and backgrounds and mutual respect.

High priest. Could be the big chierf, copper and bronze, beaten , the copper flamed for patina

The original tile is 'The drawback of introspection, when there's action to be taken'.

High Chief. Brass and copper, beaten, heated

Yes, for when you need a little encouragement, second maquette

head of Alex carved in wax, cast in bronze

originally carved in plaster, now cast in bronze, mounted on Ziricote

fortuitous shape, cast in bronze, mounted on ziricote

made in plaster plus bits and pieces, cast in bronze, very light patination

portland stone carved, originally from old church

originally carved in plaster, now cast in brsinze, mounted on Ziricote

Maquettes

how you read this may well depend upon how you’re feeling about things

I imagine building it on the skyline 30 metres high

trees, surrouonged by protective fencing,the blosom escapes

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Larger Sculptures

yes, for when you need a little encouragement

great to fill a spare spot in the bed. add a drop of honey and the bees visit

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Found Object Sculptures
The real delight is the sudden seeing of what is there

When working with found objects the real delight for me is that first sudden seeing. A feeling or character or emotion, completely unexpected, is suddenly revealed. A real ‘AHA’ moment. There’s no thinking in it. Sometimes it can take years for me to see what is under my nose.. Then I like to use as light a touch as possible, and so keep any intention or idea of mine well away from the final piece.

People see things differently, and mine is not the only way. I’ve learned that titles can be useful to indicate what I have seen but they are in no way intended to be restrictive.

two old squashed discarded bedsprings having fun on the open road.

picnic spoon, reinforcers, bits of smoothing iron, document clips, laser printer cleaner

from can opener to centre stage opening night

after 4 years I realised the bent horseshoe I picked up in Aleppo was really a swooping bird of prey

you can never tell what gems my be lying in wait by a farmer#'s barn

unusually in my work this piece is assembled from three elements of ancient builder's debris, even so, he seems ready for anything.

imagine an Italian or French priest perhaps, wearing the broad brimmed hat, the 'saturno' , battling against the wind to minister to his flock, or perhaps get home to dinner.

you could probably write a whole story based on what these two are saying to each other

the bird is a welding offcut. no thinking, noi intention, ithere it is, perfect

give the next generation whatever wisdom you can, they're going to need it. might take them a while to recognize it's value.

These bent pipes are seeking everywhere and looking into everything. Hide.

in combination, these bits of once discarded metal take on all sorts of persona, if you only let them

this reminds me of a dachshund I used to know.

the functionality induced shapes of working objects is often so clean and beautiul,, entirely lacking in sentimentlity, they are just there.

the best way is to wait unil it speaks to you, at leasts for me, forcing the issue never works, and I've never found in doing so any fun

a slightly different character to blade head 1

at least from one traditional point of view this just about sums it up

they could be any couple in authority, even your grandparents

Flutter by. This string was set free from a box of chocolates.

Almost a found object but touched with a side grinder and painted.

medieval wedding: l to r: 3 angels singing hosannas, bridegroom, bride, mother in law, & devil dancing

Niche Paradou collection

This beautiful dicovery was made when I stayed in a lovely old mas in the Bouche du Rhone. The wall leading up to the house had empty niches carved in it and I filled them over the years with a variety of sculptures created out of most random objects. Every niche had now a story to tell.

flimsy maybe, but they happily survived a lot of wind and weather

the gardener never appreciated this and kept on chucking it away

however simple a greeting, an improvement on ano greeting as you enter the drive

some odd bits of metal and a little welding

something to catch the eye, the play of light on shapes, much of what sculptures are about

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Niches Paradou

For many years would spend a few weeks staying in a lovely old mas in the Bouche du Rhone. Set into the wall leading up to the house were several empty niches just longing to be filled. Each year I would use whatever materials I could find to create a variety of sculptures for these niches to make a nice welcome.

bits from an empty fine wine case, a paper bag and some plaster

much nicer than empty niches, a proper morning welcome

the plain trees shed wonderful strips of bark, painted and hung they slowlly twirled in the breeze

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Maquettes

Maquettes are a sculptural way of exploring and trying out ideas, rather like a sketchbook. Sometimes a maquette will carry with it the distant vision of vast sculptures erected in important places. It’s not going to happen of course, but it does allow one to explore the possibilities of such works and allow the imagination to roam. Go with the imagination, however impractical some aspect of your character might want to call it. Let it flow unhindered. You never know where it might lead. The path to inspiration can visit the most unexpected of places.

For me a maquette is not something to be copied and scaled up for a finished work. For a start changes in scale demand even subtle changes in the internal proportion and relationship of form. From my point of view, for a piece to be able to stay alive, the creative process will carry through right to the final touch.

Even a few minutes following your ideas and making marks freely in a sketchbook, or building a maquette, can give you the seeds of much fruitful creative work in the days, weeks, months to come.

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