Luke Shepherd

Artist’s Statement – Luke Shepherd Sculptor December 2009 Very few people have their Bronze Portrait Busts made in their lifetime. My aim is to regenerate an appreciation for this most powerful of art forms — the portrait sculpture. I find the portrait bust to be one of the most intensely challenging tasks. Imagine the most physical, visual and mathematically challenging puzzle you can – then double it! The making of a great bronze portrait sculpture is all of this. I view modelling as a magical process of observation and investigation. Rediscovering the language needed to transform the clay beyond mere technique or idea. I strive to deconstruct the form of the sitter before putting it back together, in a fashion that intensifies the sitter’s presence. This involves understanding what elements make the presence of the sitter unique, removing what is unnecessary and changing what is crucial, before reassembly. In this way the viewer not only gains a vivid representation of the sitter, but is transported through a doorway into the world of the sculptor’s construction and creative processes. Biography. Too traditional to be taken seriously at Art College, yet too gifted to be ignored, Luke Shepherd has always made portrait busts, working directly in the clay without the need for preliminary drawing. He became recognized early in his career as a portrait sculptor with his distinguished and enduring bust of the late George Thomas – the Rt. Hon. The Viscount Tonypandy – speaker of the House of Commons 1976-84. The bronze was selected from over 14,000 entrants for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and subsequently purchased for the public collection of the National Library of Wales. . . Luke has a long string of successful public and private commission to which he has re-introduced a renaissance style approach based on time-honored skills. This has led him to generate close links with the Royal College of Surgeons of England where he teaches portrait modeling to plastic and maxilofacial surgeons. www.luke-shepherd.com

Contact Luke Shepherd