Gallery 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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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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Portraits

I occasionally paint from photographs then what happens is the emphasis can evolve

oil sketch, Marco was a man going places

painted from a wonderful photograph, the painting though has more feeling

I can only feel what I feel and let the paintbrush do the work

quick oil sketch, not too much thinking about it

she didn't look like this of course but the feeling is just right

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Still Life

what is the size of the world that we live in?

I bregan to get the feeling of flowers exploding from their stems

sometimes a picture takes charge of itself

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People

Sometimes one gets a sense of forces not quire so benign

Anna with flowers. Further experimentation with colour.

lookinhg for stillness and direction at the same time

reverie. What is she thinking? One can never really tell.

there's not always some obvious action to take, sometimes one has to wait until it becomes clear

painting this, the inner feeling was just beginning to emerge

What comes out of the paintbrush is more and more a surprise

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Scenes

one of my favourite trees in Richmond park

a corner of the front garden away from the wind and in the sun, bliss

thsi was painted with abolute minimal use of brush

forest full of all good things, adventure with care

I learnt from sculpting that if something is noi right, change it immediately, and then when all the balances and shapes are in harmony, leave it alone

I enjoy taking a scene and playing with it, this is based on a path in Barnes.

painted for my daughter from memories of times in deepest Walles

this is an evocation of the joy and relief on Barnes Green on freedom day when we were allowed out

the walled garden in Paradou and the orientation of the 16th century house keeps at least some of the wind out so the plants can survive

however hard the mistral blew, there was almost always a spot of stillness within

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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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Drawings

Many of these drawings were made following the methods passed on from Cecil Collins, for instance using multiple instruments at the same time, and or both hands, maybe not looking or holding a quill pen from the tip of the feather. There was always a model. Control in the normal sense became increasingly difficult, until, if you were lucky, you gave up the idea of control altogether. It’s one of the best lessons I ever learned. Sound scary? Have a go. It’s only a drawing. There will be plenty more.