Artworks by Rowena Beaty
'I work with stone because of the beauty and resonance of the material – it underlies the nature and form of landscape and speaks of the earth’s history over deep geological time. The Lincolnshire limestones I often use were laid down over 170 million years ago - they contain the imprints of organic life which are revealed through the process of carving.
I use traditional hand tools – hammer and chisel, rasps and files, instead of machine tools - to allow for a more direct and instinctive feel for the natural character of the stone I am carving.
Through my sculpture, I am interested in exploring a connection with the rhythms of the natural world. My work is figurative, based on the human form. I want the sculptures to express a gravity and stillness which evoke the origins and history of the material, but at the same time contain the latent energy of the body. The tension created through a duality of stillness and energy can be seen in Early Greek and Romanesque sculpture, which I have always been drawn to.'