Introduction
The making of images has been central to my life. From an early age a compulsion to render in three dimensions has been imperative. The art of creating an image, shaman-like, which would possess qualities that exist in real life translated into a permanent state, was of immense importance to me.
As a student in the 1970’s I realised a great deal of what passed for sculpture possessed none of the qualities which I was seeking. I knew that I had to start at the very beginning: for me this meant many long hours looking at and studying the model. The form and articulation of the figure absorbed me entirely. Over the years I gradually began to understand the body intuitively and so I could dispense with the model. The remembered image became the focus of my attention.
The naked figure, whether in the studio or on the beach, has always fascinated me. It is a subject that everyone can relate and respond to in their own way, often without conceptualising or intellectualising. That is the way I prefer to do it. There is a deeper response to the illusive and resonating qualities of the body in art.
The choice of the male figure / nude as a dominant motif was made quite early when I realised that the female nude had, to a large extent, been robbed of its power by the commercial world of advertising, whereas the male nude still retained a power that could excite, grab attention and shock. The reaction of the spectator to the male figure was stronger, whether out of competition, fear or embarrassment. It proved to be a potent image. For me, the sculptor, this fact reinforced the work with a greater resonance and meaning.
The manipulation of material to create an image is the essence of the sculptor’s craft. My ‘feel’ of the material, whether it be clay, wax, plaster or bronze informs the outward appearance of the sculpture. The tactile and plastic qualities are an important element in the way the sculpture is constructed. In the right light clay has the qualities of flesh and can be made to imitate the tautness of the athlete’s thigh or the loose folds of flesh of an aged torso. It is the verisimilitude of the material that gives life to the surface of the work.
The act of drawing has also made a great contribution to my work. Here the initial investigation of an idea or one particular model plays its part. Long before any clay is applied to the armature, my eye will travel across the form and my hand records the nervous reaction to the stimuli. The drawing and re-drawing of the image from every angle begins, in my mind, to build an understanding of the three dimensional.
By eschewing fashion I have followed a path which has sometimes been solitary, but it is in a tradition, which has appeared to be pushed aside or forgotten, but it has never been entirely submerged, and it is there, powerful, when we seek to re-discover it. By its very nature sculpture does not speak quickly to its audience, which today can be very impatient, not willing to linger. The stillness of sculpture requires the spectator to enter into contemplation, and only then does it give up its message.
* Ian Rank-Broadley January 2002
Contact details
Website: http://www.ianrank-broadley.co.uk
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Image Gallery
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Title: IREK MUKHAMEDOV
Dimensions: Height: 12' (30cm)
Media: Bronze: Edition 12
Description: A brilliant dancer of Tartar origins trained at the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow.
He defected to the West in the footsteps of Nureyev and Barishikov where he joined the Royal Ballet,
Covent Garden as principal dancer before creating his own independent dance company.
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Title: VIOLA
Dimensions: Height: 14' (35cm)
Media: Bronze: Edition 3
Description: A porttrait of the artist's daughter aged 18 years.
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Title: TOWARDS ANOTHER
Dimensions: Height: 74' (185cm)
Media: Bronze: Edition 5
Description: The figure, arms raised up, turns and looks towards another.
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Title: CRUCIFIXION
Dimensions: 21x12.75' (52.5x32cm)
Media: Bronze: Edition 5
Description: An attempt to show the vulnerability of Christ's body while he is hanging from the Cross after dying a painful death for his beliefs. His nakedness is an implicit allusion to his victory over the shame that followed Adam's fall.
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Title: Donald Buttress L.V.O., D.LITT., F.S.A. 2000
Dimensions: Dia. 330mm
Media: Cast Bronze
Description: Past-Master of the Art Workers Guild