John Simpson is a skilled abstract sculptor. His sculptures are made from different types of rock such as Italian and Greek marble, Oamaru stone, Maratoto stone, NZ Basalt and unknown stones. His sculptures are really amazing and fascinating to look at.
John became a sculptor 15 years ago when in the UK doing social work. As this was very stressful work, he decided to balance it out by experimenting with making sculptures from clay. He did this for 3 years. After this he gave up his job as a social worker and became a fulltime artist.
His sculpture technique is just to “go with the flow” and be prepared to change the sculpture at any moment. He relates his sculptures to his life saying “it is not a job or an occupation it’s a journey”. John uses hand tools as they give him more connection to his sculptures and it also gives more precision than power tools.
Over the years John has made hundreds of amazing sculptures to sell, for museums or to keep for himself. His largest sculpture was made when he lived in Allonissos in Greece. It weighed 12 tonnes and was made out of marble, it depicts a spirit women and its home is now in front of the Allonissos Museum. He made this sculpture as a gift to the community and it took him a whole year to make. The sculpture is very detailed and very majestic.
Monachus Monochus Yineka
(Spirit women)
John has also made a few sculptures from plaster of Paris and wood glue. He makes them by first setting the plaster in a mould made from wood; after it has set he carves the plaster into the desired shape. As I was interviewing John he showed us two of his sculptures made from plaster, he then very kindly gifted one of these sculptures to me and my family.
John is very interesting to be around and it was a pleasure to interview him. I highly recommend that you check out his website www.cresentmooonweb.co.uk you can also look at his sculptures on www.alonissosmuseum.com.
Tim Peck 13 years, is a regular contributor to ARTbop. Tim and John Simpson have provided ARTbop with a set of images to accompany this article.
