ARTIST'S STATEMENT
ALEXANDRA HARLEY ARBS*
I make abstract wood sculptures which are lively carved constructions with a rich variety of textures.
These sculptures convey a sense of movement, animation and an expressed feeling of imbalance and unease. I am inspired by, trying to capture movement in the natural world, including the moving figure. I try to encapsulate a combination of movements rather than just a static pose. I look beneath the skin to expose the underlying movements, rather than the outer surface which masks the tensions and stresses contained within. My sculptures seek out and emphasise the stretches, twists, pushes and pulls contained within a movement. My work is not static, either in its feel or in its subject matter, though the 'movement' in the wood is not literal.
I may use and expand only a small part of the initial starting point, so the final sculptures bear little resemblance to the original source and inspiration.
I use the natural colours and the grain of the wood to enhance the shape of each piece of wood where possible, splitting the wood naturally along the grain to discover its own rhythms and movements, leaving the raw edges and tool marks deliberately to contrast with the natural forms and areas that have been smoothed. Each sculpture is made up of several complex pieces of wood which are distinct and exciting passages in themselves, that together work to make a strong, unified sense of the whole work.
Making and physically manipulating material has been at the forefront of my sculptural activity; whilst firmly rooted in the abstract style, using the human form as the basis for my sculptures also combines the long line of artistic tradition in figurative sculpture.
Whilst taking a traditional theme, I strive to push my practice and the edges of figurative sculpture forward. At a time when minimalism and conceptualism are in the ascendant, I remain firmly committed to a personal expression that encompasses and embraces the use of physical materials.
*Associate of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
