Guy Stevens

Guy is a graduate of Chelsea College of Art where he studied Fine Art but spent most of his time developing multi-media projects, using video, photography, performance, installation and sculptural techniques. After graduation he was involved in various creative projects including designer hat making.

He turned to stone carving in 2001 while working on a building project; he picked up a chisel and taught himself to carve. He has since developed his own distinctive visual language and finds the physical act of engaging with the stone an important part of his creative process. Guy maintains each work is an evolving process of discovery, of unlocking the potential energy within the rough form.

'Most of the time I do not know what the result of my physical labour will be; shadowy reflections and echoes of forms move in and out of focus in the stone as I work. I resist the recognisable, but the finished sculpture always seems to have some part of an unintended object or creature that has crept into the abstraction without me knowing.'

His work is non-figurative and explores notions of balance and contrast. Often a piece is surprisingly balanced on its points or intricately curved in an organic form. He prefers his work to stand directly on the ground, which gives it a further source of energy. ‘However many points or surfaces a work has it seems to always find its equilibrium resting on three points’ he explains. There is a playfulness to much of his work, an ambiguity that it could come to rest in more than one way. He exploits the surface of the stone, carving it to create light and shadow and enhance the play of natural light across it.

Guy works in a variety of stone, but especially native limestones. His girlfriend is Italian, so there are also frequent visits to source Carrara marble. He has in the past executed several public works including pieces for the NHS but more recently has been concentrating on a more personal body of work.
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