Artist Anna Gillespie creates thought-provoking sculptures of the human form and its delicate relationship with nature. We saw this first with Taste the Rain, her ongoing series of surreal sculptures created from the material of fallen trees, and then again with pieces like Woodsman, Abundance, and Homage.
We just got sent these photos of several pieces created by Gillespie back in 2011. They were each beautifully shot by photographer Colin Hawkins, at England’s Berrow Sands. The stunning works were created using material found right on the beach including everything from a burnt pallet and driftwood to a large piece of seaworn bone. After creating her contemplative figures in her studio, Gillespie brought them back the beach, to their places of origin.
While the sculptor likes to leave her work open for interpretation, she does say that she hopes that they conjure up ” a sense of being a bystander, having to watch from a distance as the effects of global warming unfold.”
Above: The Waiting Game, 2011
Unique Bronze, Found Steel
Grazing Lands, 2011
Unique Bronze, Found Bone, Oak
Escape Route, 2011
Unique Bronze, Found Mixed Materials
Watching it Happen, 2011
Unique Bronze, Found Groyne, Oak
Long Way Home, 2011
Unique Bronze, Found Wood, Burnt Oak
Artist Anna Gillespie with Long Way Home
All of these pieces were sold in an exhibition with Beaux Arts London in 2011 and are currently owned by private collectors. To see her other works in person, this October, the artist will be part of a group show at Beaux Arts London. Keep an eye on her website for further details. If you’d like to learn more about her artistic journey, she’ll be giving a talk for the Bath Society of Artists this coming Thursday, April 25, at the Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution in Bath, Somerset. Love her work.