Bronze is an alloy made up of 80% – 96% copper. To this are added other materials such as zinc, phosphor, silicon depending on the properties required.
I have resisted bronze until now, worrying about the weight of history it carries and the fact it is so often overused – an automatic ‘go-to’ to add perceived value, whether or not the material is appropriate or needed. But last year, in the midst of political upheaval and threatened identity, I felt the need to make a series of handheld objects to hold on to and they needed to be heavy. I made them in clay and cast them in various materials such as plaster and concrete, but none gave me the feeling of dead weight I was looking for. And so, finally, to bronze. Over the years I have visited foundries, been walked through the process, discussed and even judged bronze awards, always looking for artists who will bring a new perspective. But as with all these things, it is never the same as doing it yourself, and the A-N Artist bursary has given me a fantastic opportunity to consider where this laden material might fit within my practice.
Plain bronze colour is pale pink to yellow, depending on the type of bronze used. A patina is simply a dye or chemical reaction added, with heat, to the surface to change the colour. It is then sealed with a wax or varnish to preserve the colour. If left alone bronze gradually, and over many years, develops a dark green and/or red patina, as seen on this Early Iron Age bronze Horse Cheekpiece from the Lorestan Province of Iran.
Clare is a London-based artist who makes coloured sculptures. Her practice tackles the dilemmas of 21st century living – technology, consumerism, migration – and how we find compromises to navigate them. Using wood, stainless steel, bronze, concrete, resin, plastic and clay, she sites works in groups or in locations that draw gentle attention to the issue in question. Clare has completed site-specific installations in spaces such as Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation, Brompton and Norwood Cemeteries, Bishopsgate Square and the Royal Society of Sculptors. She has shown outdoor sculpture at Meadow Arts, Cheeseburn, Hannah Peschar, Contemporary Sculpture Fulmer and in Hengshui City. Solo exhibitions include Art Seen, Nicosia, Unit One WorkshopIGallery, Leighton House Museum, William Benington Gallery, University of Leeds, Studio M74 in Mexico City and and she has shown at the RA, the National Gallery, the Jerwood Space, the RIBA and the Royal Society of Sculptors.
