ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
KENT ARTIST PROFILE:
JONATHAN HATELEY
JONATHAN HATELEY’S SCULPTURES ARE, IN A WORD, MESMERISING.
THERE IS SOMETHING ABSOLUTELY MAGICAL ABOUT THEM AND ONCE YOU
SEE THEM, YOU CANNOT DRAW YOUR EYES AWAY. insideKENT FOUND OUT
MORE ABOUT HOW HE CREATES THESE INCREDIBLE PIECES, AND WHAT IT IS
ABOUT KENT – AND HIS LIFE – THAT INSPIRES THEM.
If you had to define your art, how would you
describe what you do?
I create figurative sculptures with texture or bas-
relief surface detail. These are hand finished and
painted to accentuate the relief. All aspects of the
natural world inspire me and have fundamentally
influenced my current flow of work. My sculptures
might use poses which bear comparison with elements
of nature, how nature might affect the human body,
or the detail might re-emphasise human emotions,
energy or states.
How did you become an artist?
As a child, I would fill sketchbooks with drawings of
cartoon characters that gradually progressed to
plasticine models. In fact, my final degree show on
a graphic design course was a series of three-
dimensional illustrations made in plasticine. With
my portfolio in hand, I moved from the West
Midlands to London and gained work at a model-
making company. Here, I worked on a scale version
of the proscenium arch created for the show Phantom
30
of the Opera. This was used to design all subsequent
productions around the world. I spent four years
working as a prop maker for the English National
Opera before becoming self-employed and working
as a sculptor and illustrator in TV, theatre, film and
publishing. It was after many years in this commercial
world that I felt the need to have the freedom to
create my own work. I have now been exhibiting
my sculpture for sixteen years.
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What is the most unusual, daring, or
interesting commission you’ve ever received?
I was asked by FINA to provide a piece to present
to American Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps for
his massive success and contribution to world
swimming. The sculpture they selected featured a
number of interlinked swimming female figures.
Why sculpture?
While I have enjoyed various mediums over the
years including drawing, painting and sculpture, I
have found the latter to be the one I feel offers me
he most scope to say what I want to say. My only
consideration in the past was the seeming restriction
on colour, which generally meant traditional bronze
patination shades of brown or verdigris. It was my
missing the use of colour that persuaded me to
introduce it to my sculptures.