insideKENT Magazine Issue 86 - May 2019 | Page 31

MICHAEL PHELPS FINA AWARD How does Kent inspire your work? I have made my home in Kent, and as an artist I have worked in barns on two farms in the county, seeing the changing seasons more closely than before. In 2010, I began a year-long project of creating a small sculpture a day based on aspects of nature. Each piece was assembled onto a larger form and the final sculpture titled 365. The reference for this was predominantly collected during long walks around Kent. Although this sculpture is quite different to my current work, it embedded in my mind the idea of looking to nature and adding its features to sculpted forms. illustrator Arthur Rackham, who is known for his ethereal pen and ink paintings of children’s fairy tales. In sculpture, from the past I enjoy the work of Rodin and Giacometti and in the present, that of Philip Jackson and US sculptor Richard MacDonald. What are you working on at the moment? I have been concentrating on two sculptures concurrently that are based on sunrise and sunset. The female figures are covered in circles, with those on Sunrise getting larger as they go up and on Sunset larger as they go down. Sunrise is a standing figure taking in the morning with a stretch while Sunset is a crouching, reflective figure. Do you have any artistic heroes? Where can we see your work? I've had to write two theses during further education and I based these on the great painter J.M.W. Turner, whose work I love to this day. Same with the The Linda Blackstone Gallery shows my work at the Affordable Art Fairs (AAF) nationally and internationally. The first AAF show for me in this country will be at Hampstead on 9th-12th May, and later at Battersea from 22nd-24th. I aim to show at RHS Wisley again this year as part of the Surrey Sculpture Society annual event as well as The Savill Gardens. My professional art practice has been supported over the last five years by PURE Arts Group, with whom I will be exhibiting in Battle in October. www.jonathanhateley.com jonsculpture jonathanhateleysculpture jonathansculpts jhateley 31