ONE TO WATCH
From exhibiting at Collect 2020 to making bespoke creations for private clients, sculptor Zeinab Harding is certainly someone on our radar
Tell us a little about your background. Sustainability is a constant thread that ties my experiences and education together. My background is varied: from facilitating art workshops in the Amazon where I was exposed to traditional skills to living and working in east London and being immersed in the arts culture there. My experiences have shown me the need for long-lasting sustainable design. Initially, I studied art at university, which was concerned with concept rather than craft. I later studied historical woodcarving and gilding at City & Guilds of London Art School, an intense, practical course with a wonderful community of craftspeople.
QI look both back to antiquity and forward to the contemporary. The study and meaning of floral ornament is a major theme. My work displaces historic ornament and places it in contemporary interiors, giving it many layers of meaning. I am inspired by so many different sorts of artists, from Bernini to El Anatsui.
Tell us about your technique and the equipment you use. Firstly, the design phase involves studying ornament and designing a response to it. I then create a rough clay model, which helps me understand and refine the form of my design. After this, I draw my design onto a piece of planed, seasoned wood and carve it, looking to my drawings and clay model as a reference. For my carving, I use chisels and stay away from rotary tools or sandpaper; when
QWhere do you look to for inspiration?
your chisels are sharpened well it leaves a crisp, beautiful mark that does not need sanding.
QIt is an inspiring space, built in the 1930s. It was originally a shirt factory and since then has been inhabited by craftspeople – from florists to furniture makers. As it is wood-clad on the outside and has chipboard internal walls, I think of it as my urban tree house. It is full of sketchbooks, rolls of old chisels, workbenches and lots of wood.
QA collaboration with High Desert Observatory, which was facilitated by Bullseye Projects for Collect 2020. I carved a swag design in lime wood in response to the architecture of Somerset House, where it was to be exhibited. I designed and carved the swags in my London studio, took a silicone mould, which was then cast into a glass tabletop in California. The hand-carved nature of the wood can be seen in the glass in the facets made by the chisel marks, which are revealed by the refracted light.
QWhat is your studio like? What’s been your favourite project so far?
What’s in the pipeline?
Before lockdown, without knowing what was about to unfold, I drew up some designs using floral ornament that symbolised restoration and renewal coupled with architectural shapes. This work takes on more meaning in the current climate as renewal is something we seek more than ever. This year, I will be finishing this collection of work and I hope to be exhibiting it soon.
How would you advise anyone wanting to pursue a career as a sculptor?
QInvest time in getting to know the material you want to work with and consider how you can use traditional skills in an innovative way. Always be bold and don’t be afraid to go against the grain.
QI am an early bird and enjoy my morning cycle to the studio. My day can vary depending on what projects I am working on. I spend a lot of time in the design phase, which involves drawing in museums, looking at architecture and considering how my work would interact with interiors.
QWhat is your average day like? If you weren’t a sculptor, what was plan B?
I would have gone down the more academic route and been a doctor; I believe creativity and science go hand in hand.
zeinabharding.com