dominic welch
2018
dominic welch dreaming in stone 2018
www.messums.com 28 Cork Street, London W1S 3NG Telephone: +44 (0)20 7437 5545
Things are not difficult to make; what is difficult is putting ourselves in the state of mind to make them.
Constantin Brancusi
dreaming in stone The serene elegance of Dominic Welch’s art has gained him an impressive reputation as one of the leading sculptors of his generation. Equally impressive is the amount of work he has achieved since he first took up a chisel. Carving stone is a slow business, but for Welch the long hours in the studio have always been a journey of discovery, a complete and fulfilling way of living. From his youthful apprenticeship to the sculptor Peter Randall-Page to setting up on his own, he has committed himself with complete absorption to his art.The dream images that emerge from his workshop, the results of a long meditative process, now adorn public and private spaces all over the world. Welch’s distinctive repertoire of shapes – moon-discs, planetary spheres, candleflames, plant shoots, or primeval sea creatures – have become archetypal forms that resonate in the collective unconscious. The four elements - earth, water, fire and air -are invoked in the most unlikely of materials, the density and weight of stone transformed to apparent lightness. His creations appear to float, flicker, or balance on a point, ready to take to the air. They are talismanic shapes, images to dream on. For the last twenty years Dominic Welch has worked in the same high-roofed open barn, set deep in a remote Devon valley. In rain or shine, storm or snow, he sets off to work, noting the changing of the seasons and the gradual encroachment of nature around his space. He sees deer and pheasants patrolling the high fields, hares boxing, birds sneaking into the barn to steal his sandwiches. During the last Spring he watched a squirrel make its drey in the ivy at the top of the barn, and then carry its babies down from the nest, one by one. Although he works in protective gear with noisy air tools, he appreciates the peace of the place. However, the recent winter, with a solo exhibition looming, has been particularly testing. On several occasions he has arrived
to find his work and his tools covered in drifts of snow, their shapes barely discernible under a thick white counterpane. Although the strange beauty of the scene takes his breath away, the tough business of carving stone to a deadline becomes even tougher by the need to clear the space, pick up the thread of his work and regain momentum. Welch’s love of carving stone has not diminished with time. He is now an absolute master of his craft, supremely confident in handling the huge blocks that make the long journey down the rough track to his barn on flatbed trucks, having come over land and sea from Ireland, Italy or Greece. His tools – pneumatic hammers, angle-grinders, chisels and rotary sanders – have become second nature to him. Even the deafening processes of splitting the stone with drills, plugs and feathers, grinding, hammering, and polishing, have themselves become a form of meditation. A deep interest in Zen Buddhism underlies his working practice. As he observes, ‘I like the simple mindfulness of the work, and the appreciation of the mundane. It helps me to be able to spend six hours with a bit of dry sandpaper rubbing stone.’ For Welch, stone is a magical material to work with. It is generally assumed to be inert and unmoving but that is not the case. As he says, ‘we perceive stone as solid but it isn’t. Like the rest of the natural world, it consists of a mass of particles with spaces in between, bound together by energy. It absorbs light, and what we see is only the thin skin of the reflected surface. It is a natural material, and I am simply shaping stone into more natural shapes.’ Even when polished to silky smoothness, the stone continues to ‘breathe’, warming in the sun, crisping in the frost, shining in the rain, its tactile surface inviting the touch and making it seem a living thing. The stone that Welch prefers to carve is Carrara marble, which is generally free from internal veins and flaws that can distract from the pure form. He also uses Kilkenny limestone, often combining the two different stones in one piece, with Cararra for the main form and Kilkenny for its base. Other pieces are made from Ancaster Weatherbed or Green Greek marble, which is very hard to work. Each material has its own distinct quality. His relatively recent foray into bronze has added another
1 Contemplation V
Carrara marble 150 x 153 x 15 cms 59 x 601⁄4 x 5 7⁄8 ins
2 Ascendant
carrara marble 213 x 38 x 37 cms 837⁄8 x 15 x 145⁄8 ins
dimension, the warmer colour and patination of bronze giving the cast shape a less ethereal, more earthy character. Dominic Welch’s aesthetic now differs markedly from the visceral, intricate granite constructions of his former mentor. Whereas Randall-Page’s work stresses the visual impact of weight and the way in which gravity affects mass, Welch is more interested in forms that stress weightlessness and flow. He has gained a great deal from assisting the sculptor Bridget McCrum with her carving, observing her intuitive way of working, but her aesthetic, which draws on animal and bird life, differs from his more elemental shapes. Other sculptors who work with him have some influence and inevitably there is a cross fertilisation of ideas. But Welch has found his own way, drawing inspiration as much from geophysical phenomena as from the Cycladic heads of ancient Aegean cultures, or the etiolated forms of Constantin Brancusi. Welch does not make maquettes from which to enlarge his forms, but works spontaneously on the uncut block, drawing, doodling in charcoal, or tracing with his finger in the dust to discover the shape within, then cutting and refining the shape by instinct. He tends to work on several pieces at a time, inspecting them from all angles and in different lights, letting one piece reverberate against another. It is an evolutionary process, which can provide welcome surprises and point him in new directions. As he says, ‘I have always liked trying out new things. The pleasure is in playing around and working with accident. I made my very first moon-disc sculpture in Greece. There was this coil of wire rope that was opening out. It fascinated me.’ Other shapes feeding into his work draw on a mental reservoir of remembered objects – an Egyptian headdress, a Cambodian veil, a Celtic design on silver. In each piece of sculpture he tries to find the ‘flow’, as if it is on the move. ‘I am looking for a feeling of “Rightness”. It is hard to explain, but I feel it and see it as I make it.’ As the work develops, the various pieces begin to resemble a group of actors on a
3 Contemplation VI
Kilkenny limestone 98 x 100 x 12 cms 385⁄8 x 393⁄8 x 43⁄4 ins
(image shows work in progress)
4 Meditation Stone VII Carrara 103 x 64 x 12 cms 401⁄2 x 251⁄4 x 43⁄4 ins
stage, the barn’s high ceiling lending the scene a theatrical air. Sometimes two finished pieces seem to belong together, suggesting they might best be exhibited as a pair. Others, especially the very large pieces, are best given plenty of space to display their potent personalities. Around the edges of the barn offcuts from the big blocks crowd like gravestones in a tumbled cemetery. These offcuts also have latent possibilities and can leap into sculptural life in unexpected ways. Over the years Welch has refined his sculpture into ever simpler shapes. Earlier carved flourishes are now internalised to become linear tracery within the pure form. Delicate surface patterning suggests direction of movement, upward growth, lateral propulsion, centripetal force. Although Welch works freehand on the stone, perfecting the form is vital. ‘You’ve got to get it exactly right because the lines and ridges are only a tiny indication of the underlying form. It’s interesting to see what a fragile skin the finished sculpture has. I often joke to people that it’s just a few marks on a stone. Some carvers think in terms of conquering the stone. It’s never been like that for me. Although the work seems heavy and industrial you can do it in a gentle way. Even an angle-grinder can be used quite sensitively.’ This third solo exhibition at Messum’s London gallery reveals Dominic Welch at the height of his powers, his sculptural language in full flow. His perfectly realised forms have a contained energy and direction, subtly emphasised by a delicate surface patterning that often encircles a secret core or heart before rising to a point. His moons, depicted either as spheres or as flattened discs poised on a point of balance, possess a concentrated power that fires the imagination. They are almost circular, but the small indentations where two internal arms or horns meet at the apex suggest a possibility of change, a waxing or a waning. These are totemic images with myriad intriguing meanings. The long meditative process of their creation has turned them into objects for the tranquil contemplation of others. Jenny Pery April 2018
5 Agean Moon
carrara marble 143 x 148 x 15 cms 561⁄4 x 581⁄4 x 57⁄8 ins
6 Ionian Moon
kilkenny limestone 148 x 150 x 14 cms 581â „4 x 59 x 51â „2 ins
7 Rising Form VI
bronze – an edition of 5 270 x 90 x 25 cms 1061⁄4 x 35 3⁄8 x 97⁄8 ins
8 Blue Angel IV
kilkenny limestone 68 x 122 x 20 cms 26 3⁄4 x 48 x 7 7⁄8 ins
9 Blue Backed Angel
ancaster weatherbed 90 x 205 x 40 cms 35 3⁄8 x 80 3⁄4 x 15 3⁄4 ins
10 Embryonic Form
bronze – an edition of 11 32 x 32 x 4 cms 125⁄8 x 125⁄8 x 15⁄8 ins
11 Silent Moon XI
bronze – an edition of 9 72 x 72 x 5 cms 28 3⁄8 x 28 3⁄8 x 2 ins
12 Aurelian Moon
bronze – an edition of 9 51 x 55 x 5 cms 201⁄8 x 215⁄8 x 2 ins
13 Silent Moon
bronze – an edition of 11 34 x 37 x 5 cms 13 3⁄8 x 145⁄8 x 2 ins
14 Carrara Moon VI
carrara marble 96 x 98 x 8 cms 373⁄4 x 385⁄8 x 31⁄8 ins
15 Geotropic Sphere II
bronze – an edition of 7 45 x 45 cms 17 3⁄4 x 17 3⁄4 ins
16 Aeolian Sphere III
kilkenny limestone 48 x 48 x 48 cms 18 7⁄8 x 18 7⁄8 x 18 7⁄8 ins
(image shows work in progress)
17 Aeolian Sphere IV
carrara marble 48 x 48 x 48 cms 18 7⁄8 x 18 7⁄8 x 18 7⁄8 ins
(image shows work in progress)
18 Quintessent
Kilkenny limestone 100 x 16 x 15 cms 39 3⁄8 x 61⁄4 x 57⁄8 ins
19 Geotropic Sphere I
bronze – an edition of 7 45 x 45 cms 17 3⁄4 x 17 3⁄4 ins Geotropic Sphere I and II available as a pair – in dark patina
20 Swallowtail Form
bronze, an edition of 11 20 x 61 x 6 cms 77⁄8 x 24 x 23⁄8 ins
21 Dorsalis
bronze – an edition of 11 42 x 35 x 7 cms 161⁄2 x 13 3⁄4 x 23⁄4 ins
22 Embryonic Form IV
carrara marble 45 x 51 x 10 cms 177⁄8 x 201⁄8 x 37⁄8 ins
23 Quiescent Carrara 110 x 60 x 26 cms 431⁄4 x 23 5⁄8 x 101⁄4 ins
24 Carrara Angel VIII
carrara marble 39 x 64 x 14 cms 153⁄8 x 251⁄4 x 51⁄2 ins
25 Emergent
carrara marble 80 x 17 x 16 cms 311⁄2 x 63⁄4 x 61⁄4 ins
26 Rising Form VII Kilkenny 101 x 37 x 18 cms 39 3⁄4 x 145⁄8 x 71⁄8 ins
27 Foliate
Kilkenny limestone 106 x 32 x 12 cms 413⁄4 x 125⁄8 x 43⁄4 ins
28 Ionian Eye
Kilkenny limestone 75 x 29 x 6 cms 291⁄2 x 113⁄8 x 23⁄8 ins
29 Uccello
carrara marble 75 x 18 x 16 cms 291⁄2 x 71⁄8 x 61⁄4 ins
30 Galaxias
Kilkenny limestone 70 x 125 x 15 cms 27 1⁄2 x 491⁄4 x 5 7⁄8 ins
31 Verian Form
Greek green marble 61 x 17 x 7 cms 24 x 63⁄4 x 23⁄4 ins
32 Virescent
Greek green marble 54 x 19 x 10 cms 211⁄4 x 71⁄2 x 37⁄8 ins
To know what you can find within a block of stone you need to be an artist and a stone carver. Dominic Welch has been with Messum’s for over ten years, but his last exhibition catalogue with us was six years ago and although there have been many commissions in between, this show has needed to be a long time in the making. But that is quite natural as creating in this sector of the arts takes time. Hidden from the gaze of others and tucked within the folds of Dartmoor, Dominic has already been busy. The sharp sounds of chisel and hammer, the whirring of grinders, is all you would know of the industry and building tension there, as exhibition deadlines draw nearer for the next show. Shards from the massive stone blocks that have been ordered months, years even, before, surround the studio floor. Slowly sculptured pieces begin to appear, their beauty extolling the natural formations within the stone. Now fashioned and polished into shape, their forms offer timeless beauty and centrepieces for our attention. We look forward to sharing them with you. DM
Selected Exhibitions and Events 1989–98 Apprenticeship with sculptor Peter Randall-Page. 1990–95 Exhibited yearly at Mythic Garden, Chagford, Devon. 1992 JAPAN, International Sculpture Symposium, Aio-Cho, Japan. 1994 First Prize, Millfield Open. Millfield School, Somerset. 1995 TAIWAN, International Sculpture Symposium. 1996 2nd RWA Sculpture Exhibition, Bristol. Open exhibition. 1997 Young Sculptor’s Award at Manchester City Art Galleries. 1999 Sculpture in the Garden (The Pleasure of Influence), Wimborne. 2000 20/21 Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London. 2001 2001 Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London. 27 Cork Street, London. 2002 Phoenix Art Gallery, Exeter, Devon. On Form, Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire. Sculpture at Cotehele, Cotehele House, Saltash, Cornwall. 2003 Manchester Art Fair, Urbis, Manchester. 20/21 Art Fair, Commonwealth Institute, Kensington, London. 2004 On Form 04, Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire World’s End Gallery, Langton Street, London. Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, Australia 2005 Messum’s, Lord’s Wood, Bucks. 2006 On Form 06, Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire Messum’s, Lord’s Wood, Bucks. 2007 Warren Grady Art, new commissions, Florida, USA. Messum’s, Lord’s Wood, Bucks. 2008 On Form 08, Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire. Messum’s, Lord’s Wood, Bucks. 2009 Messum’s, Cork Street, London W1, solo show. 2010 On Form 10, Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire. 2012 Messum’s, Cork Street, London W1, solo show. 2013 Stone and Bronze, Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne, Australia 2013 On Form London, Crypt Gallery, St.Pancreas, London. 2013 Moncrieff-Bray Summer Exhibition, Petworth, Sussex. 2013 Garsington Opera, Sculpture at Wormsley, Wormsley, Buckinghamshire. 2014 Onform 14, Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire 2015 Sculpture in the Gallery, Messums Corks Street 2015 Tornonto International Art Fair, Toronto 2016 Onform 16, Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire 2016 Tornonto International Art Fair, Toronto 2016 Petworth Art and Antiques Fair, Petwroth, Sussex 2017 Moncrieff-Bray Summer Exhibition, Petworth, Sussex. 2018 Messum’s, Cork Street, London W1, solo show. 2018 Onform 18, Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire
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