statement

Anna Gillespie is a contemporary figurative sculptor whose intensely emotional representations of the human form are made from materials as diverse as masking tape, bronze, clay, and fabric impregnated with plaster.   Anna Gillespie's sculptures express complex human emotions as well as her responses to environmental issues.   Her work varies in scale from life-sized, life-like masking tape figures presented in groups to form an installation, to more intimate and domestic pieces cast in bronze, as well as drawings which mirror the lightness and form of her sculptures.   She has recently ventured into the print-making room where figures which underpin her body of sculpture are made with found natural objects such as delicate leaves or seed pods.  

Since her move to a more rural setting near Bath, Anna's emerging consciousness of the seasonality and fragility of the world around her has led her to develop sculptures in more natural materials such as acorns. The resulting work is not a Romantic depiction of the natural world but rather continues the theme of her earlier work, challenging the emotions, and conveying a politically charged message. Combining these natural materials with found objects and the sculpted human form she expresses her growing concerns about the environment.  

Anna Gillespie believes that art has the potential to engage people at a human level with the environmental crisis we face in a way that statistics, science and data cannot always do. She is part of an emerging trend of artists who have chosen to engage with the issues of the day in their work and to try to represent ecological thinking through art.

Anna Gillespie trained as a stonemason in Bath twelve years ago, but experimented with lighter materials in order to be able to move her own large-scale work around the studio. She discovered that she could model lightweight human figures in crumpled masking tape, thus constructing permanent forms out of a post-industrial throw-away studio material. The masking tape is coated with UV-resistant matt resin, graphite and shellac, or plaster. Some of these works have then been cast into bronze, and patinated either in traditional green or finished to look like the original tape.   

The focus of Anna's work is strength of emotion and simplicity of form.    The work does not attempt to capture movement, but rather still moments, and this aspect of the work and the simple poses employed has been deeply influenced by Antony Gormley's work and writings. However in Anna's work there is often an element which takes away from the formality of total symmetry, a twist of the head, for example, as well as the sheer strength of emotion that is implied in her figures. This is particularly evident in the humanity of the child-like figures where simple observation shows that a child   cannot pose with symmetrical formality. Anna has also been influenced by Bacon's work and writings which, have been important in clarifying the practice of conveying emotional injury through figuration. Pisano, Michelangelo, Quinn and Munoz, amongst others, are also strong influences.

Anna Gillespie's work seems to contain contradictions; light and heavy, enduring and temporary, still and vibrant, suffering and joy. The work reflects the fragility and vulnerability of human beings, and the theme of captivity is often present. Within the sculptures can be seen traces of global events, the feelings and circumstances of the model at the time when they posed, and - on a more subliminal yet essential level - the personal world of the artist.  

Her sculptures often attempt to convey internal feelings in the physical realm, to make manifest inner pain, grief or joy. This is done though a process of distortion which may be through the bandages or dripping wax while retaining the core reality of the human figure. The figure is rarely stylised beyond recognition in her work as she feels it elicits a stronger bodily emotional response when not abstracted too far.

The forms that emerge and the themes that are covered, spiral round, echo and interrelate with each other. One recurrent theme is the "Blown Away" figure, once an exploration of pain and resurrection, it can also be seen as a metaphor for awe and ecstatic experience. This motif re-emerges in fine leaf prints where "Autumn" is literally being blown away by the wind.The destructive aspect of this motif is seen in her current work dealing with a contemporary Icarus figure and humanity's potential dissolution.

The artist seeks an emotional and not a conceptual response from the audience. Her method of working, the very physicality of constructing objects and entering an almost dream-like state, in the process means that her work emerges from a subliminal level. The connections and ideas within it have poetic symbolism, resonance and power; conceptual connections are a valued part of the process but are not allowed to dominate.   
Anna Gillespie feels that through using the human form she is connecting with other artists throughout history - it is a fundamental human impulse to use form to depict humanity and our relationship with each other and the natural world. Sensing that deep knowledge is stored within the body, and acknowledging the spark ignited by recognition of the human form, she believes that figurative work may be used to challenge the disembodied nature of our society and connect us more deeply with the body of the planet we inhabit.

C.V

Born 1964.

1983-86                
BA Hons Philosophy, Politics and Economics.   Oxford University.

1986-87                
Diploma in International Relations.   London School of Economics.

1993-95                
City and Guilds in Stone Masonry and Carving.   City of Bath College.

1995    
Bristol.   The Happening Gallery.   Solo.

London.   Wembley Exhibition Centre.   Natural Stone Show.

Edinburgh.   C Venue 19, Fringe Festival group show.

Bristol.   R.W.A.   Autumn Exhibition

Italy.   Studio assistant to Nigel Konstam at the Centro d'Arte Verrocchio.

1996     
Bristol.   The Happening Gallery.   Solo.

London.   Work shown at The Cadogan Gallery

The McHardy Sculpture Gallery.

1996-98      
MA in Fine and Media Arts.   Cheltenham.

2003    

Bristol.   Centrespace Gallery.   Solo.

Dorset.   Sherborne House Arts Centre.   Two person show.

Bristol. R.W.A.   Autumn Exhibition.

•London.   Candid Arts Trust.   Network A.D. group show.

Bath.   Fringe Festival.   Installation in Bath Abbey.

Yorkshire.   Hebdon Bridge Sculpture Trail.

London.   'Art London' with the Berkeley Square Gallery.

Athens.   ARTiade 2004. 'Olympics of Visual Arts'.

Gloucestershire.   Prema Arts Centre.   Solo.

London.   Spectrum Fine Arts.

Bristol.   RWA.   Autumn Exhibition.

Bath.   Hotbath Gallery.   Pause: capturing the sublime.

Somerset Museum Services art collection.

2005    

Bristol.   New Gallery at the RWA.   Solo.

Plymouth.   Peninsula Arts Centre.   Four person show.

London. Osborne Samuel Gallery.   Three person show.

London.   The Artist and Radio 4.   South Bank Gallery.

Manchester.   Artzu Gallery.   Big Shots.

•Art Miami Art Fair with Osborne Samuel Gallery.

Palm Beach Art Fair with Osborne Samuel Gallery.

London, Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, Artzu Gallery.

London, Osborne Samuel, Summer Show.

Manchester, Artzu Gallery.   Group show.

•Bristol.   Royal West of England Academy.   Open Sculpture.

London Art Fair.   Victor Felix Gallery.