From Seed to Steel: a talk by Joseph Ingleby

 For our last Zoom talk, we were very pleased to welcome Joseph Ingleby. whose sculpture, 'Turtle Storm' has resided in Queen's Park for the last 25 years. Fascinated by the sculpture, and the person behind it, I looked up Joseph, found his website, contacted him and asked if he would consider talking to us via Zoom. Based in Glasgow since 1989, there is no way we could have brought him to Swindon in person, but I am really pleased we were able to find out about his subsequent work.

Let's start with the sculpture 'Turtle Storm' seen below:

This was a response to the effects on a turtle colony of nuclear testing in the Pacific in the 1980s, it is composed of irregular natural forms including turtle shells, making an abstract work. It started life at Kelmscott Manor from 1989-94, and when Kelmscott was run by a Trust, a decision was made to have only artefacts on the premises made by William Morris. Turtle Storm was then donated by the Dufty family to Thamesdown who sited it in Queen's Park. Thank you to Angela Atkinson for this information in her 2015 blog piece on Queen's Park, which can be read here. Angela has written a blog piece in response to this talk, mainly about 'Turtle Storm', lots more information on the piece here.

Joe seems to have been influenced by natural forms, converting them into large steel structures, or not so large structures. I took a series of photos from the screen and took copious notes, starting with this one, 'Shelf Life' described as 'man made with an organic twist' by Joe

Flywheel seen below is a post graduate piece made from sheet metal

Spring Release below, made in 1992, is made from forged metal, and has much energy and movement in the piece

I don't think we were ready for 'Time Vessel' a breath taking commission on a large scale, it's a plate copper sculpture reminiscent of a ripening seed pod and can be found in Alloa, commissioned by Clackmannanshire Council.

This podded fern was commissioned by Sustrans

'Slipstream' was commissioned by Scottish Enterprise, Lanarkshire for South Lanarkshire Council, and now stands beside the river Clyde at Dalmarnock Bridge, Rutherglen, Glasgow, as you can see, it's lit at night.

Not all pieces are very large, Greta's Star celebrating his daughter's birth, is a copper sculpture

Joe starts with drawings, he showed us the drawings made before 'Turtle Storm' and also for

'Waterland' about freshwater life, and below, the scale models for the resulting sculpture in Nottingham

Joe also talked about the River Wall sculpture which is opposite Slipstream, there are lots of photos online, and it's a large piece, click here to see it, and lots of other images of Joe's work

We were then privileged to hear about Joe's latest work for Lerwick, Shetland, shown above are preparatory drawings, and below scale models of the abstracted guillemot's egg

and as seen below cut open to reveal elements of Shetland

For the definitive, accurate version of the talk, please click on the link here:

https://youtu.be/xOBwohIseD8

Thank you once again Joe for a fantastic talk.

 This was the information Joe gave us to publicise the talk:

 'From Seed to Steel' Joseph Ingleby is a sculptor working in metal, his work informed by an interest in nature and its uneasy relationship with the man-made. Based at Glasgow Sculpture Studios since 1989, Joe makes both large-scale works for outdoor public spaces, as well as smaller pieces for exhibition and interiors.Sculptures in the public realm are site-specific and draw on themes that reflect both historical and contemporary aspects. It is these‘hidden histories’ with their rooted points of reference, giving clues to the nature of the place, that he sees as the focus for the creation of his public artworks. In this talk,Joe will retrace his creative journey since the making of‘Turtle Storm’ in 1986, giving insight to his methodology and his artistic development as well as the importance of drawing to his practice. He will also consider how he works on a practical level–the materials he uses and how he constructs his sculptures. Illustrating how the commissioning process happens with its various key stages, Joe will show examples of some of his public work, as well as the small-scale gallery work that is the bedrock of his practice, enabling a constantly evolving approach of focus and refinement.Joe trained at West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham (now University College for the Creative Arts) graduating in 1986, and then at the Slade School of Fine Art, London,in 1988. In 1989, seeking affordable workshop and studio space, he moved to Glasgow and has developed his work at the GSSsince then. He has exhibited and had commissioned work located across the UK. Significant major awards include from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, in 1996and the Gottlieb Foundation, New York in 2013.