Celebrated sculptor Hamish Mackie’s forthcoming exhibition ‘Life in Bronze’ will showcase over 40 of his latest pieces in London’s Mall Galleries from October 10-22, 2016. We have collaborated with Countryside Alliance and Country Life Magazine and are delighted to be sponsoring a private view evening on Tuesday 18th October.
For more information or to request an exhibition catalogue, contact Hannah Treliving on Hannah.Treliving@Roxtons.com.
In the Countryside Alliance’s Autumn magazine Hannah writes: ‘The notion that nature inspires creativity is a truth universally acknowledged, but in no one’s work is this more blatant than in the sculptures of Hamish Mackie. He is fast establishing himself as one of the country’s leading wildlife sculptors and his work seems born out of an enviable affinity with animals and their habitats.
Having been brought up on a Cornish farm, Hamish’s early surroundings formed a backdrop which remain a great inspiration and one that he constantly refers back to. He credits observation of the farm’s livestock and wildlife along with the pursuits of fishing and shooting as vital early influences to his work. In an age when society is, regretfully, becoming increasingly detached from nature, Hamish says it is ever more important for artists to stay ‘tuned in’ to their subject and it is this commitment to working from life that has lead him to all corners of the globe. He admits that his research trips to the wildlands of Africa, Australia and Asia are a huge privilege of the job and he is well aware that his predecessors would not have been so fortunate, instead having to visit zoos to observe their exotic subjects in artificial habitats. Recent trips have included a trip to the Varzuga in Russia with Roxtons, who have been organising fishing and shooting days and holidays since the 1970s.
Hamish headed out to the Kola Peninsula to study Atlantic salmon and the magical Arctic Terns, amongst other species. One day he caught 14 fish before lunch, yet still managed some thorough research: “Just don’t mention the vodka!” he adds.
Modern photography means that it is so easy to capture these experiences and masses of shots are taken which, together with miniature clay studies, are taken back home to the studio and then used to bring the raw, malleable clay to life.
Hamish favours the lost-wax method, which captures his signature style so perfectly. “Leaving a fingerprint in wet clay is just so exciting” he explains, and it is this gestural quality which gives his three dimensional creations such vitality. The inherent strength of the bronze allows the sculptures to be positioned in poses not possible in other mediums so they can be caught in motion with one or even no legs on the ground.’
