Projects
During the final year of my Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture at Portsmouth
University I was “head hunted” by an Art Studio in the South
of England. They had visited my studio space at the faculty and liked
my work; they immediately offered me a job within their small team of
sculptors working on large scale sculptural enlargements for artists,
and international architectural sculptures. During my year with them
I worked on a number of important pieces notably -
(click images to enlarge)
The
Swords of Qādisiyyah, also called the Hands of Victory,
are a pair of triumphal arches in central Baghdad, Iraq. Each arch
consists of a pair of hands holding crossed swords. The two arches
mark the entrances to a parade-ground constructed to commemorate then
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's declaration of victory over Iran in
the Iran-Iraq war. The arches were opened to the public on August 8,
1989.
The arches were made by an international consortium led by the German
foundry H+H Metalform. The blades of the stainless steel swords weigh
24 tons each. Cast in Iraq, they are partly composed of metal from guns
and tanks of Iraqi soldiers killed in the Iran-Iraq war. The hands and
arms of the monument are cast in bronze, cast in the United Kingdom at
Morris Singer Founders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hands_of_Victory
Henry
Moore enlargements.
A
1 ½ times life size Camel for the 21st World
Chess Olympiad in Dubai in 1986, Today this piece still stands on the
harbor in Dubai.
A
complete re casting of the “Eros” statue in Piccadilly
Circus, London by Sir Alfred Gilbert.
This statue was the first in the world to be cast in aluminum. On the
50th Anniversary the Victoria and Albert Museum commissioned the studio
to re cast and produce 5 exact copies of the statue for exhibition around
the world. This was my job.
The Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum, it was the first of its kind,
in that visitors went underground and experienced the sights, sounds
and sensations of being in a real life coal mine. I was one of a team
of 3 sculptors who worked on creating this experience.
The Lancaster Maritime Museum. Occupies the former Custom House and
an adjacent warehouse. Using sounds, smells, reconstructions and audio-visuals
it tells the story of the port of Lancaster. Part of a small team of
sculptors we recreated the feel of a working maritime port and quay side.
Often casting ourselves to create the living figures in the scenes.
Safety Project Algeria
A couple of years ago a friend of mine working in the oil exploration industry called me to see if I could help him with a problem he had identified within the company he was working for. While working in the Sahara Desert in Algeria with an American Oil company there had been a number of deaths of locally hired crew, and the health and safety officers were having a hard job to communicate safe working practices. The problems were not only caused by language barriers but by cultural and religious differences and understandings. The conventional materials and practices for heath and safety were simply not working.
Knowing my abilities to find creative solutions, this friend of mine turn to me to see if I could help. I spent 2 weeks in the desert living and working with the local crews, and safety officers to understand the problem.
Within a short time I discovered that the existing materials and practices used in America to communicate safety were not being, and would never be, understood by this culturally different workforce. I needed to find a different way to encourage them to embrace the necessary safe practices.
I developed a series of campaigns which involved taking daily photographs of the crews themselves working safely and wearing the correct protective equipment. I issued protective equipment to a few of the crews and used photographs of them in posters carrying safety messages in both French and Arabic displayed in area where they congregated to eat and socialize, effectively turning these groups into “superstars” and “heroes” amongst their peers.
I let it be known that I would only photograph crews working safely and using the correct equipment, by the following morning everyone wanted to be issued with the safety equipment and have their photograph taken, so that they too could be used in the poster campaigns. Although they never learnt the safety reasons for protecting themselves, the end result was the same. The idea was developed into other areas using images of themselves and no words to communicate safe working practices. The campaigns were hugely successful.