It's not often an artist gets the opportunity to create a very personal legacy work in the context of commissioned public art, so when presented with an opportunity to bid for a commission in my local community I couldn't resist making it very personal and keeping it in the family. The commission brief from the City of Sunderland Council was to create a high-quality piece of artwork that enhances the aesthetic appearance of the grounds of the new building development at Boult Terrace, Sunderland, and fits the limited available space with a design concept that reflects the local community, its identity, heritage and location.
THE DESIGN CONCEPT
My successful proposal design acknowledged the local heritage links with the local coal mine and coke works incorporating a sculptured bust of a local miner standing 3 meters tall facing the main road, supported by a post that shows in relief the place name ‘Boult Terrace’. The bust depicts the likeness and identity of my late father-in-law Robert Askew, a pillar of the local community and church who was a Wearside miner. He would have walked by Boult Terrace to the nearby Lambton coke works where he also worked as a rigger. On closure of the coke works he worked with Sunderland Council Cleansing Dept until retirement.
HERITAGE METALWORKING
There are a number of tools and techniques that can be employed in metal sculpture including fabrication and welding, brazing, soldering, casting, but for this work I decided to utilise my traditional metalworking skills that were coincidentally learned and honed during the 1970’s, the same heritage period depicted in the reference photograph. Whilst it makes sense to link the period with the tools and techniques, which in some way adds a sense of authenticity to the work I didn't want to be a slave to it, in fact I employed a new technique of modelling the bust in clay first then covering the whole surface in mild steel mosaic tiles, tack welding them in place then before fully welding and sculpting.
INSTALLATION
It was certainly a red letter day when installing the sculpture of my father-in-law, and there were tears from the family as Robert took his place overlooking the place in which he lived and worked.
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