Artist puts heads together as ‘spine’ project takes shape

MORE than 50 residents have been “scanned” as part of a proposed public art project in Watlington.

Artist Joseph Hillier has been commissioned to make a series of sculptures that will form part of a “spine” tying the old and new housing areas together.

He has designed five heads that will measure 1m high which each represent different elements of the town including, Watlington Hill, the chalk stream, agriculture of the surrounding land and the people who live there.

The money for the project has come from grants from the developers behind Red Kite View and Hampden Fields.

Over the course of three days last week Mr Hillier was stationed in the town hall working on one of the heads “to build a community”.

Mr Hillier was using a handheld scanner to produce 3D scans of volunteers with the aim of picking 12 to incorporate into the sculpture.

The scans will be 3D printed from which Mr Hillier will cast bronze statues.

Those scanned represent a cross-section of the town’s residents and many brought props that illustrated their professions or their link to the community.

Among them this included members of the brownie pack, who brought cakes, a window cleaner, who brought a ladder, and a paramedic, who came in uniform.

Loraine Daniels, who has run the Bella Luce Lighting shop for 10 years, posed next to one of her lamps.

She said. “The technology blows my mind and the sculpting is just gorgeous. This whole process is just extraordinary.”

Ms Daniels, who is one of the organisers of the town’s Artweeks, said she was keen to be part of the project as it aimed both to tie the community together and make art more accessible.

She said: “To create a trail from the Red Kite View and the new Redrow houses up the high street is just phenomenally brilliant because it means everybody gets to walk everywhere and see art.

“It’s just about connecting everybody and keeping the town as it has always been, which is a really lovely, connected town.”

Ms Daniels, who is a member of the Watlington Business Association, said that she also hoped that the trail would bring more business to the area.

She said: “The other big advantage of this gorgeous trail is that it will bring people from outside into the town. That can only be good for the businesses and we do need the visitors.”

The project has not yet been granted planning permission from South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority. All but one of Mr Hillier’s works will be made using ceramic, which he said was inspired by their surroundings.

He said: “The reason I chose ceramic is because this town is made of clay out of the ground, which was fired locally. I’m really keen to accentuate that link of the town to the ground it has grown out of and the wider area as well.

“You’ll be looking at them at eye level and there’s a beautiful intimacy to it when you have a head on this kind of scale. It’s almost like you’re right next to somebody. So you should have a personal relationship with them.”

Mr Hillier, whose best-known works include The Messenger, a giant public sculpture in Plymouth, has already started working on some of the heads in his studio in Northumberland.

He described the artistic process behind “to build a community” as a modern twist on an age-old method.

Mr Hillier said: “I developed a technique which includes burning away 3D print and filling the space where the 3D print was with bronze.”

Mr Hillier said that he had been inspired by the energy put into the project by the community.

He said: “There’s an incredible amount of generosity and goodwill. They’ve hosted me beautifully and found somewhere for me to stay and fed me in the evenings. It’s been a really kind project all around.”