Congratulations to Julie Tanner for earning her place as a Finalist in the Boynes Emerging Artist Award 7th Edition!

Who are you?

I would describe myself as an “accidental sculptor”, as I discovered sculpting by chance. My career up until 2020 was that of a graphic designer. First working in a marketing agency for many years and then as a freelance designer. The freelance work only lasted for just over a year as the pandemic meant that work dried up. However, lockdown gave me the opportunity to discover sculpting. I very quickly realised that I needed a creative output, so began stone carving as my isolation challenge.

My parents asked me to carve a copy of a Stephen Page bison in some limestone they had lying around. So I borrowed some rudimentary tools and had a go. As a family, we had previously attended a 2 day stone carving workshop so I knew what I wanted to achieve, and the unseasonably warm weather meant that I could work outside almost every day until September, carving different animals and birds from polar bears to toucans to rabbits.

The colder weather forced me indoors where I discovered that the clay maquettes I was making for reference for the stone carving, were works of art in their own right and that I could preserve them by getting them cast. Needless to say, I was hooked! I go to bed thinking about sculpting, and wake up thinking about sculpting. It really has become a bit of an obsession. So much so that I now work in a fine art foundry in the cotswolds. This has helped to fund my work, but also given me a huge insight to the whole process.

In the last 2 years I have been fortunate to have sold out of an edition of bronzes and have created many pieces in both resin and bronze which I sell privately and through galleries and sculpture parks.

There’s a quote by George Eliot which I feel describes my life over the last 2 years so perfectly… “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” I often think about my life path now and what direction it would have taken if not for the pandemic. Sculpting is my life and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

What inspired you to utilize sculpture as a medium?

I've always been a bit of a craft course junkie, trying everything from fused glass to pottery and drawing to screen printing and a lot of things in-between, but sculpting is the one craft that has kept me coming back for more. My very first inspiration came from the sculptor Anthony Theakston, whose work is minimal in detail yet displays so much personality of the birds he sculpts. I just love the clean lines and super smooth finish, with a nod to the Art Deco style.

And of course Stephen Page’s work was instrumental in inspiring me to find a style of stone carving that led to creating bronzes. However, some of the sculptors that make me want to produce figurative pieces are Coderch & Malavia, Michael James Talbot, Willem Botha, joel_llopis, Luo Li Rong and Kristine and Colin Poole to name just a few.

How would you describe your work?

My work is mainly figurative, as I have a fascination with anatomy and the human form, especially in the form of movement and I’m heavily inspired by the work of art nouveau artists such as Alphonse Mucha, Aubrey Beardsley, Egon Schiele and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, but also by traditional japanese woodblock prints.

Every piece of my work has an element of art nouveau about it, whether it's in the fluidity of line or the reference to organic shapes, I feel like I’m always striving to find a ‘weightlessness’ in my work, often using counterbalance as a feature.

Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind "Lost in a Moment"?

The illustrations and graphic work of Alphonse Mucha were the main inspiration behind ‘Lost in a moment’. I knew I wanted to create a dancing female figure that was suspended in the air. I also knew that I wanted her to be dressed in the same style of dress that Mucha used in ’The Arts’ series of posters.

The figure needed to look urethral and fluid, so the art nouveau style played a major role in helping me to achieve this, with a sinuous pattern of swirls on the lower part of the dress and tendril-like folds flowing down from the upper part. The figure herself is suspended in a moment in time, by the stylised bottom of the dress. I chose to have her eyes closed to suggest a sense of being completely immersed in the moment and of being oblivious to everything around her.

Can you walk us through the technical steps of creating "Lost in a Moment"?

Creating bronzes from start to finish is a very long process, often involving many talented and expert craftsmen and women over many months.

All my sculptures start with a lot of research. I like to immerse myself in images of dancers and anatomy to try and understand how the body works. Once I'm happy with the pose I start making an accurate scaled armature from aluminium wire to form the ‘skeleton’ of the piece. The armature is bent into the correct shape and attached securely to a stand which holds it in place ready for the next stage.

Accuracy is key because it’s easier to correct proportions at this stage than once you get all the clay on.

I use Chavant oil-based clay for smaller pieces of work, as it never dries out, and is great for fine details. I try to imitate the muscle structure of the body, again to ensure a more accurate figure. Once the muscles are in place I add the ‘skin’ as a thin layer of clay over the top of the muscles, working on introducing folds in the skin, and enhancing bone structure. At this stage I have a naked female dancer, which I finish as best I can before adding the clothing.

The folds and edges of the dress are actually an optical illusion. She isn’t ‘wearing’ a dress, the effect is achieved by using tiny coils of clay to create the illusion of edges and folds, hence why it's so important to finish the body to a high standard, because you’re not really covering it over.

Once I’m satisfied with the clay model, it has to be moulded. This is done by creating a silicone mould encased in a plasterer resin jacket which is then used to create the wax model. The waxes are checked for accuracy and finish and then invested in a ceramic shell made up of several layers to form a hard outer mould. Sculptures are rarely cast as one piece and often have to be cut up to make several smaller moulds.

When the shell is dry, the wax is melted out and the ceramic mould is formed. This is known as ‘the lost wax process’ Molten bronze is then poured into the ceramic shell and is subsequently hammered off and sand blasted to reveal the bronze component.

The various components are then welded together, spurs are removed and metal finishers chase the bronze to remove any weld marks and the metal is polished to the desired finish.

Finally, I patinate the piece by heating the bronze with a blow torch and apply chemicals or dye-oxides to obtain the desired colour or ‘patina’. The whole thing is then waxed or lacquered to protect the delicate nature of the patina.

What do you hope to communicate to an audience with your work?

I’ve only been sculpting for 2 years so I'm still finding my ‘artistic voice’. My work doesn’t have a social or political message and I just produce what I love and what interests me. However I like to think that my work communicates beauty and elegance.

Have you experimented with other mediums?

I'm trying to break away from using nothing but clay in my sculpting by experimenting with adding found objects like leaves, seaweed and Hessian. I want to be more experimental but I find it hard to let go.

Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of creating your work?

When I started sculpting I had no idea what was involved in the process, so I was like a child with no rules. I did what I wanted to do and didn’t understand that there were consequences to my design. Every stage is affected from the moulding to the welding. And complicated moulds means more money! Now that I've learnt how to mould I’m definitely more sympathetic to the process and I try to take into consideration the next stages, without losing the freedom of ignorance.

Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?

My biggest success so far is winning the Lady Petchey Sculpture prize 2 years in a row, which is part of the Holly Bush painting prize. For me it was recognition that my work was good enough. The piece that won in the first year was ‘Flow’ which has been my best selling sculpture and sold out of the edition over the 2 years. She was only my second bronze sculpture so I’m particularly proud of the piece.

What projects are you working on currently?

I'm working on a couple of pieces at the moment. ’Spirit of the earth’ and an untitled bust. Spirit of the earth is going to be part of a series called ‘The elementals collection’ and follows on from ’Spirit of the wind’, with water and fire to come. Ive cast her in jesmonite and I'm currently fixing the seams and working on getting a good finish before giving her a bronze effect finish. I’d love to get her cast in bronze but funds won’t allow at the moment.

The untitled bust is more of a practice piece and experiment. My goal is to learn how to sculpt true to life portraits and as I said before, to let go more and be more free with my mark making, and this piece is giving me the opportunity to do both.

What is your dream project or piece you hope to accomplish?

I would absolutely love to be commissioned to produce a full size or bigger figure. My dream is to become a full time sculptor.

As a finalist, do you have any advice for artists who want to submit to awards, competitions, residencies, etc.?

If you’re not in it, you can’t win it. So apply for the competitions you can afford and have faith in your art. Not everyone will like your work but there just might be a judge that does. Having said that, my biggest piece of advice would be to research the competitions first. Check out the previous winners and finalists and see if you think your work might be a good fit. Also read the rules. It’s no good applying for a residency prize if you can’t make the dates for example.

Lastly, I like to ask everyone what advice they would give to their fellow artists/photographers, what is your advice?

I'm sure nobody wants advice from a self taught sculptor that’s only been doing it for 2 years, however if you’re self taught like me then, watch lots of videos, buy the books, invest in the materials, look out for short courses and get loads of advice from established artists. Joining an association is a great way of meeting like minded people and getting their expert advice which is what I did.

If you’re just starting out or thinking about starting then just go for it. If not now, when?

To view more of Julie Tanner’s work

Website

Instagram

Facebook