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Angelika Seik

My work has progressed through a number of naturally evolved phases throughout my career. At the outset I was heavily influenced by abstract sculpture particularly the work of Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Henri Gaudier-Brezka and Constantin Brancusi.

 

After a time I began to realise that, to my eyes, abstract sculpture was overly cold and that what really fascinated me was people and warm emotions. This led to my work assuming a more figurative poise, articulating human forms in a more realistic manner. However I found producing purely figurative work an unsatisfactory process. I am now trying to find a balance between simple form and strong human themes.

 

In recent years I have made a series of female forms, ‘timeless, universal women’, who are the same all over the world, from ‘touch the earth’ societies to modern urban women. Much of the influence for these themes comes from my childhood; my mother’s sayings and the realisation that women’s lives and roles can change very quickly, particularly across generations, and that skills and lifestyles are fast forgotten.

 

Perhaps the most significant influence on my work is the material itself. Stone’s weight and solidity lends itself to quiet and meditative subjects with an inner life. I get a sense that I have gone back to my roots with my work, as my father’s ancestors were farmers and quarry men in Pomerania, Germany (an area of modern day Poland).

 

Courtesy of the artist’s website.