Vancouver Island a sculptors' haven
©Kathy Smith: November 15, 1998
Victoria Times Colonist, Islander section

Vancouver Island boasts what may be the largest group of sculptors anywhere in Canada. And all have a personal drive to create art in three-dimensional form. "The Vancouver Island Sculptors' Guild represents every kind of sculptural approach you can imagine," says member Linda Lindsay. And if you want to imagine the broad spectrum of sculpture, read on and discover the diversity that defines this eclectic group of more than 60 artists.

"Sculpting, as with any art form, is a phenomenal gift we should be passing on," says Lindsay. "I love to work in clay. It's so malleable. You can shape and pull it into any emotion you're feeling." Lindsay is a full-time sculptor and sculpture teacher, but not everyone has the time or the means to make sculpting a career. It can be just as satisfying as a hobby or pastime.

Duncan resident Lorrainne Veysey began sculpting eight years ago while convalescing in bed for almost a year with a kidney ailment. "We had a sculptor using our workshop, and I started using his scrap materials to carve figures," she says. "Sculpting in stone is a great challenge for me. I call what I do reverse imaging. I cut down, rather than build up forms," she says.

"Sculpting is an emotional outlet for me," says Nanaimo member Maurice Chadwich, who came to sculpture from two-dimensional art when he realized he was colour blind. His newest piece in progress depicts desert nomads with large turbans on their heads riding camels. "I see a certain image, and then I want to get more involved with it," he says. "I can't get it out of my mind until I do it."

"I remember playing with Plasticine as a kid on the prairie," says Kaye Smillie, Cobble Hill resident who works in finished (fired and painted) clay. "Someone gave me a fridge magnet once which depicted cows with pies underneath them, and something triggered the idea of visual puns (cow pies and shepherd's pies, etc.) which I now base most of my pieces on," she says.

Sculpting can be a laborious process in any medium, the artist taking much time to adhere to materials, detail, and final presentation.

Rick Smith, who built his own homemade foundry, is one such sculptor. "My final medium is bronze, but it takes a few stages before I get to that point," he says. "Each of the four stages is quite time-consuming, but I like the fact that I can take something in one medium and turn it into something else with bronze."

Besides the familiar sculpting materials of wood, bronze and stone, others include papier-mache, steel, fibreglass, mixed media (the use of different materials together in one piece), and even bone. "I have worked with every medium there is," says M.D. Hennessy, who delights in using a variety of substances in her work. "Now I tend to work with gyprock and plaster, but I'll use anything I can find that fits the piece."

"Bone carving is similar to wood carving," says Norman Stainer, who crafted and sold carving tools before taking to carving himself. Largely self-taught, he also works with wood. Stainer says living on a floathouse at Fisherman's Wharf doesn't hurt his creative capabilities. "I've created a certain mood for this life," he says. "I'll do it (carving) until I die now."

'Found art' is another interesting aspect to sculpture. Sooke resident Jan Johnson has been using steel to sculpt since 1966. "I used to live on a farm and grew up with a knowledge of welding," he says. One of his most recent pieces was created from the inner workings of an old washing machine. Johnson has lived all over the world, and has sculpted wherever he could find materials and steel.

Though Vancouver Island seems to be blessed with all this scuptural activity, in relation to today's art world, sculpture here is somewhat behind the times. "I'd like to see sculpture and art in general become more prominent in people's lives as well as in the places they live," says current guild president Rick Smith.

While Victoria and other Island communities do have some examples, public art in Canada is not nearly as prevalent as in other countries, even poorer ones like China, Malaysia and Mexico. "Worldwide it's accepted as part of the human environment, and we would like to see more public art taking place here, especially in Victoria," he says.

These members of the Vancouver Island Sulptors' Guild agree that coming together as a group has been of great benefit to all by providing a much needed resource for sculptors who previously wokred in isolation.

"The guild is like a lifeline to me," says Hennessy. "You can talk to your peers about materials and much more. There's a lot of camaraderie. It's an amazing experience."

If you've been bitten by the sculpture bug, or you just want to view sculptural works from the witty to the profound, you can check out the group's next collaborative showing at the Maritime Museum, which opens today and runs to Nov. 30.