Jill Berelowitz’s intuitive understanding of human nature and her spiritual approach to the interconnectivity of human relationships illuminates her work. ‘Passion, the essence of mankind’, writes Berelowitz, ‘makes the world revolve. Bodies moving, tumbling or turning around create the eternal life cycle. Tactile sensuous torsos reflect passion and infinite intimate imagery.’ Her work affirms the strength of humanity and the recurring cycles of birth, death and regeneration in an interconnected life cycle.
Jill is one of the most innovative contemporary sculptors working in Britain today with numerous public commissions. Her 'Dorchester Globe' celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee was unveiled on Park Lane this January. The human form is a continual preoccupation; born in South Africa, her work reflects the influence of African tribal art in the abstraction and elongation of her forms. Her figures are both specific and universal - at times embodying emotion and transition, at others representing more universal themes. Her angular 'Emergence' series explore the tenderness of human relationships with direct expressive modelling, reducing the human form to semi-abstract shapes inspired by the natural rock formations of the Western Cape, South Africa. Her 'Diver' on display in the garden has developed from her 'Diving Girl', commissioned for the 2012 Olympic Village.
Another recurring image in Jill's work is the tree, a symbol that embodies life, through the rhythms of nature, decay and renewal. The 3.5 m bronze 'Tree of Cherished Memories' was commissioned last year for the National Arboretum, it represents a Hawthorn tree and illustrates the connection between humanity and nature. 'His Minds Eye Tree' for Shakespeare’s New Place, a hawthorn tree blown by the wind represents Shakespeare’s genius, as if bent by the gale force of his creative power. 'The Circle of Life' and 'Tree of Life' are personal pieces expressing Jill's ideas of life, death and renewal.
Born to a medical family in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1955, Jill studied sculpture with Finnish artist Karin Jaroszynska and later at the Johannesburg School of Art, where she learned the technically complex process of lost wax bronze casting. She ran her own studio in Durban, working and teaching, before she moved to London in 1976. Her work has been exhibited at Sotheby’s, Heathrow Terminal 5, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and on Cork Street for Rado and Elizabeth Arden. Her Major Commissions include: 'The Diving Girl', positioned at the entrance to the 2012 Olympic Village, a life-size pair Oar Rowers at Henley-on-Thames, 'His Minds Eye Tree' for Shakespeare’s New Place, 'Core Femme' outside Charing Cross Hospital, 'The Tree of Cherished Memories' for the National Arboretum and the 'Dorchester Globe'. Jill works from her studio in north London and her work is cast by the celebrated Morris Singer Foundry in Hampshire.
Another recurring image in Jill's work is the tree, a symbol that embodies life, through the rhythms of nature, decay and renewal. The 3.5 m bronze 'Tree of Cherished Memories' was commissioned last year for the National Arboretum, it represents a Hawthorn tree and illustrates the connection between humanity and nature. 'His Minds Eye Tree' for Shakespeare’s New Place, a hawthorn tree blown by the wind represents Shakespeare’s genius, as if bent by the gale force of his creative power. 'The Circle of Life' and 'Tree of Life' are personal pieces expressing Jill's ideas of life, death and renewal.
Born to a medical family in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1955, Jill studied sculpture with Finnish artist Karin Jaroszynska and later at the Johannesburg School of Art, where she learned the technically complex process of lost wax bronze casting. She ran her own studio in Durban, working and teaching, before she moved to London in 1976. Her work has been exhibited at Sotheby’s, Heathrow Terminal 5, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and on Cork Street for Rado and Elizabeth Arden. Her Major Commissions include: 'The Diving Girl', positioned at the entrance to the 2012 Olympic Village, a life-size pair Oar Rowers at Henley-on-Thames, 'His Minds Eye Tree' for Shakespeare’s New Place, 'Core Femme' outside Charing Cross Hospital, 'The Tree of Cherished Memories' for the National Arboretum and the 'Dorchester Globe'. Jill works from her studio in north London and her work is cast by the celebrated Morris Singer Foundry in Hampshire.
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