Elephant Seals - 2011
"In 2011, I was hugely honoured to be invited by polar experts ‘Ice-tracks’ as the artist on board an expedition cruise travelling to Antarctica. This gave me an invaluable opportunity to study and sculpt some of the planet’s hardiest wildlife within their pristine environment. It was overwhelming to see such a profusion of wildlife within such a rugged and unforgiving landscape." (HM)
Elephant Seals, so called because of their trunk-like proboscises, can grow to huge proportions - some males reaching up to 6 meters. Ungainly on land, they are however, surprisingly agile in the water, spending most of their lives at sea. In his bronze sculpture of a Elephant Seal, Hamish depicts two males fighting.
"Hamish will be one of the first sculptors in Antartica to work directly from life and on site capturing albatross, penguins and elephant seals!" (Ice Tracks, 2010)
VIDEO
THIS SCULPTURE IN THE MAKING
In 2011, I was hugely honored to be invited by polar experts ‘Ice-tracks’ as the artist on board an expedition cruise travelling to Antarctica. This gave me an invaluable opportunity to study and sculpt some of the planet’s hardiest wildlife within their pristine environment. It was overwhelming to see such a profusion of wildlife within such a rugged and unforgiving landscape. Using Plasticine as a modeling material in the Antarctic environment raising challenges, I kept it warm and soft in the ships funnel and used my travelling studio box (which floats) as my workbench. I took my materials onto shore in a Zodiac and got within ten meters of my subject….not a bad office!

