Sculptor Hamish Mackie solos at The Gallery in Cork Street

Sunday, 26 August 2007 12:01

LONDON - Largely a self-taught sculptor, Hamish Mackie has been sculpting as a career since 1996 and is steadily establishing himself as one of the top wildlife sculptors in UK. Hamish’s first solo show in 2004 sold over 80 bronzes and since then he has been working in and around the UK, concentrating on commissions and putting together a collection of work for this 2007 solo exhibition. In May of this year he traveled to Spain and Portugal to observe and sculpt fighting bulls and Andalucian horse, the resulting sculptures will be included in this exhibition. On exhibition 22 October through 3 November, 2007 at The Gallery in Cork Street, 28 Cork Street, London

Hamish is a member of the Royal British Sculptural Society and he has work in collections both in the UK and around the world, recent commissions include ‘Chalky’ for Rick Stein and Fossil Hybrid for The Gilbane Development Company - Seaside Narragansett, Rhode Island. Hamish is currently in the process of building a purpose built studio in Oxfordshire. All his work is cast using the lost wax method at the Lockbund Sculpture Foundry, near Banbury.

Inspiration
Inspiration stems from the natural world. “I mull over ideas in my head for weeks before starting. I always try to work from life/death, observing the subject from every angle to help capture ‘what makes it’. I have always tried to study animals in their natural environment, nothing beats watching grouse on the moor, deer in a wood, or observing a heard of elephant in the bush. I have being charged by an elephant and chased up a tree by a black rhino !”

Style
In his work Hamish experiments with texture and he has always been intrigued that it is possible to cast a fingerprint into bronze. He likes to leave a history in the surface as to how the sculpture was made. Whether the push of his palm running down a cheetah’s powerful leg, or the craggy texture of the roaring stag, or the delicate feathering on his snipe portray the animals character. The results range from incredibly loose to almost obsessive tightness, both capturing his subject without loosing the anatomical form and proportion. The vigour and energy Hamish creates in his work contrasts with the solidity of bronze and the outcomes are dramatic, powerful and full of movement and life.

Hamish’s sculptures are further enhanced by the bronze patination, which he does himself at the foundry. He uses bronze as a material and is not necessarily tied to the ‘traditional brown’ patination when there are so many alternatives. No two patinas are identical – almost impossible when flicking, dribbling and brushing chemicals onto a canvas of hot bronze

Visit : www.hamishmackie.com