Slate | Sphere
Sphere is one of the most fundamental forms I work with. A shape that could not be simpler, yet is endlessly complex in its implications. A sphere has a single continuous surface and no beginning or end. It has no front or back, no hierarchy of sides. For me, it speaks naturally of unity, completeness, and continuity: a form that exists as one body without interruption.
My slate spheres range in scale from around one metre in diameter, through to monumental works measuring over two metres across. At their largest, these sculptures weigh in excess of fourteen tonnes (approximately 31,000 pounds), requiring careful planning, engineering and installation. Yet despite their mass, the intention is never heaviness. By manipulating the direction of the slate strata, setting it away from the horizontal, the sphere can suggest that it has shifted from its original position, introducing a sense of displacement, latent movement, or even impending motion.
The spheres are built using methods rooted in the fundamentals of dry-stone walling, with each piece of slate shaped and assembled by hand. Although the work is composed in a dry-stacked language, the sculpture is secured as it progresses to ensure long-term stability and safety.
Material choice plays a crucial role in how each work is read. Some spheres combine Vermont Green slate, Penrhyn slate from Wales and Lakeland blue slate to introduce variation in colour and texture. Others are deliberately restrained, relying on a single material to emphasise form and proportion. The way the slate is split, riven and finished reveals the geological history embedded within the surface.
Examples shown alongside this text include a sphere at over two metres in diameter, installed at a country house near Harrogate in North Yorkshire, positioned on a large, naturally formed sandstone base after extensive groundworks to support its weight. A one metre sphere in East Lothian is shown centred within a lawn, constructed from a combination of Vermont green, Penrhyn and Lakeland blue slate, and set on a block of Corsehill Sandstone. A 1.8 metre sphere near Bannockburn, close to Stirling, forms the focal point of a newly designed garden, while another example near Blairgowrie is shown deliberately set on a slight tilt, reinforcing the sense that the form has been displaced rather than simply placed.
These spheres have been commissioned and installed internationally, including works in Scotland, England, Ireland, France, Estonia, the United States and Canada. Each sphere responds closely to its setting, whether lawn, woodland or architectural space. There are a multitude of different ways in which a sphere can be composed: every piece of slate is unique, there is a wide spectrum of colours and textures to choose from, and there are countless ways the sphere can be positioned, limited only by imagination.
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