This months featured artist is sculptor and tutor John Joyce
BIO,
I have been sculpting now for many, many years. Sculpture for me is an all consuming passion, & hopefully that still reflects in the work, both past & present. This portfolio is just a small selection of pieces from a very large body of work, spanning a couple of decades, from 2000-2025.
I've actually been sculpting since my early 20's, so five decades in total to date! I still get the same immense joy when making, & when I am 'in the flow', not so much though when it's not going at all to plan, so many failed attempts down the years, too numerous to mention!
On reflection the work is quite diverse I know, but I make no excuses for that, as it has allowed me the freedom to create that which excites me, & fires my imagination, which crucially, I feel, reflects in the quality of the finished product.
Qualifications: MA (Dist;) in Fine Art Sculpture @ The University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, Surrey. 2009 - 2011
BA (Hons:) in Fine Art Sculpture @ The University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, Surrey. 2000 – 2005
BTEC in Art & Design @ Brookland's College, Weybridge, Surrey. 1998 - 2000
Pieces in the James Hockey Gallery Collection Farnham.
Exhibiting:
Saatchi Art online
Artparks online
Member of Surrey Sculpture Society
I studied Fine art @ The University for the creative arts, Farnham where I gained a BA & MA, specialising in Fine art sculpture.
My Practice
Before studying Fine Art I worked for many years as a mechanical engineer where I gained the ‘transferable’ skills necessary i.e. fabrication, welding & construction, which were much more suited to sculpture, allowing me to express my art through this practice more easily than any other.
Today as a contemporary sculptor I work in various mediums, ranging from ceramic, bronze resin & wood, utilising what ever material best suits the project I am producing at any given time, also adopting varying styles, which I feel best suit a particular piece.
My BA work focused predominately on, or under, the general heading of ‘Presence through Absence’ through the depiction & theory surrounding the theme of ‘To live be to leave traces’ as quoted by the German philosopher Walter Benjamin. My MA following on in this vain, concentrating on entropy, more specifically ‘Cultural entropy’ synonymous with ‘Presence through Absence’
My current work however is much more eclectic & diverse, influenced still by my academic studies but incorporating & depicting movement within the pieces, more specifically ‘dynamic tension’, particularly with regard to my figurative work.
Is art relevant today?
I feel art in all its forms remains essential today, whether through traditional forms or modern digital expression, art fuels creativity, inspires innovation, and continually enriches how we experience & interpret the world around us.
Even in this digital age, art continues to evolve, making it more accessible and impactful than ever before. It can be therapeutic, assist mental well-being, through comfort and support of our emotional needs for the artist and the viewer alike. As Pablo Picasso famously said “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life” Aside from its cultural and educational value, art also contributes significantly to the global economy.
Art influences:
Starting out on my studies, figurative sculpture was always my main passion consequently in those early days my initial artistic influences were the classics and the Renaissance, sculptors such as Michelangelo, De Vinci & Bernini etc & later influences being Rodin, Jacob Epstein and the like.
My main influences now are very much aligned with contemporary figurative sculpture, and some hyper realism, artists like Duane Hansen, Ron Mueck, Antony Gormley & Carole A Feuerman. Most recently though I am much more influenced, and excited by the work of Beth Cavener Stichter ,Olivier Bertrand, and particularly the monumental work of Javier Marin. All of which are engaged with the portrayal of dynamic tension & movement within their respective practices.
Art dislikes:
This topic is more about the type of art/sculpture which ‘I dislike’ due more to the fact that I feel threatened by it, specifically 3D printed sculpture & the advent of AI were the boundaries of accepted art practice or sculpture in my case, are blurred by fake and rapid replication.
In my case a sculpture can take me up to eighty hours of work, sometimes more depending on the detail & or intricacy of the piece. The piece is then moulded & cast into resin or bronze. A 3D printed image for example from a computer down load, just a mere couple of hours to produce, with the same amount of detail and intricacies. Is this still considered art in the true sense of the word? the skill of the Artisan having been removed, thus devaluing the integrity of the piece in my view. This is considered progress by some & the future of Art will adapt & adopt accordingly, but from a personal perspective
I am saddened by the prospect of losing something so unique & precious
If I could go back ten or twenty years, what would I tell my younger self?
Pursue your dreams and follow that inner voice, if you can find something that really brings joy & purpose to your life then give it one hundred percent, as life is short ‘and the purpose of our lives is to be happy’ as quoted by the Dali Lama.
If you could go forward 10-20 years what do you hope to have done or not done?
I don’t feel this is applicable in my case, as I’m seventy five in January 2026!
But I will say that the last twenty have been a blast!