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拍品专文
Nic Fiddian-Green has captured an intimate moment in Still Water, he observes 'a horse will never drink if it is in anyway frightened, so it has to be at a state of total invulnerability'. Still Water embodies this sense of composure, the head is sentient and watchful - the hooded yet alert eyes and pricked up ears make approaching the work feel almost like an intrusion. There is a weightlessness to the sculpture that is both soporific and captivating. The work appears to not rest on the base but rather pour on it, as if the head is attached to an unseen body that holds it millimetres off the ground. This is perhaps one of the reasons many Londoners are so attached to the 33 foot version of the sculpture at Marble Arch, it is a bastion of calm amidst the metropolitan chaos of central London. So much so that the artist replaced the original cast, a commission that stood there temporarily, with a larger version after its absence was mourned by the general public.
Born in 1963, Fiddian-Green gained a foundation course at the Chelsea College of Art and Design before he studied at Wimbledon Art College, where he gained a degree in Sculpture followed by a diploma in the challenging and historic technique of lost-wax-casting in bronze. He has and continues to exhibit his work regularly around the world, and it can be seen in public and private collections in the UK, Australia, France, Hong Kong, Italy and the USA. Most notably, Fiddian-Green’s stunning equine bronzes have graced Taikoo Place in central Hong Kong, Ascot and Goodwood racecourses as well as London's Marble Arch.
A trip to the British Museum in 1983 provided the artist with the key inspiration for his oeuvre. He encountered the Selene horse, a jewel of the Elgin Marbles. The fragment that remains in excellent condition, considering it is almost 2,500 years old, set Fiddian-Green on his journey to depict the refinement of line and form in an equine subject. "I’ve always been fascinated by fragments. Something from the past that’s still present; something put back together' (N. Fiddian-Green, quoted in J. Merrick (ed.), exhibition catalogue, Nic-Fiddian Green, Recent Sculpture, London, Sladmore Contemporary, 2013, p. 12).
It is no wonder this antiquity is of such importance to the artist, the craftsmanship is outstanding. One can sense the tautness of each muscle, the veins throbbing beneath the skin and the hot air streaming out from the flared nostrils. Although the Selene Horse is a vehicle of suspense and drama as it pulls chariot of the moon goddess across the east pediment of the Parthenon, the grace of the animal radiates from the cold marble.
Fiddian-Green’s passion for his subject is beyond comparison, he often chooses to work directly from life, and instead of leaving his works in the hands of a foundry he commits to working closely with them throughout the casting process or moulding the work himself at his studio in Wintershall, Surrey. In particular, he pays close attention to the surface of each work. Colouration is of paramount importance; the patina is individually applied by the artist so that each head is unique and distinct in its character. He manipulates the bronze with agents such as copper nitrate, potassium polysulphide, and ferric nitrate to extraordinary finish.
Born in 1963, Fiddian-Green gained a foundation course at the Chelsea College of Art and Design before he studied at Wimbledon Art College, where he gained a degree in Sculpture followed by a diploma in the challenging and historic technique of lost-wax-casting in bronze. He has and continues to exhibit his work regularly around the world, and it can be seen in public and private collections in the UK, Australia, France, Hong Kong, Italy and the USA. Most notably, Fiddian-Green’s stunning equine bronzes have graced Taikoo Place in central Hong Kong, Ascot and Goodwood racecourses as well as London's Marble Arch.
A trip to the British Museum in 1983 provided the artist with the key inspiration for his oeuvre. He encountered the Selene horse, a jewel of the Elgin Marbles. The fragment that remains in excellent condition, considering it is almost 2,500 years old, set Fiddian-Green on his journey to depict the refinement of line and form in an equine subject. "I’ve always been fascinated by fragments. Something from the past that’s still present; something put back together' (N. Fiddian-Green, quoted in J. Merrick (ed.), exhibition catalogue, Nic-Fiddian Green, Recent Sculpture, London, Sladmore Contemporary, 2013, p. 12).
It is no wonder this antiquity is of such importance to the artist, the craftsmanship is outstanding. One can sense the tautness of each muscle, the veins throbbing beneath the skin and the hot air streaming out from the flared nostrils. Although the Selene Horse is a vehicle of suspense and drama as it pulls chariot of the moon goddess across the east pediment of the Parthenon, the grace of the animal radiates from the cold marble.
Fiddian-Green’s passion for his subject is beyond comparison, he often chooses to work directly from life, and instead of leaving his works in the hands of a foundry he commits to working closely with them throughout the casting process or moulding the work himself at his studio in Wintershall, Surrey. In particular, he pays close attention to the surface of each work. Colouration is of paramount importance; the patina is individually applied by the artist so that each head is unique and distinct in its character. He manipulates the bronze with agents such as copper nitrate, potassium polysulphide, and ferric nitrate to extraordinary finish.