Simon Hempsell

Born in Yorkshire I studied graphics and photography at Sheffield Polytechnic, moving to the south coast in the 90's, working for many years as a designer and commercial photographer. Using illustrative techniques learnt during my time as a designer, I designed sculptural concepts purely for pleasure, wanting something to enhance our own garden. It was one of my design clients form the art world that recently encouraged me to pursue my ideas, turning concepts into reality. Pieces are curvaceous, charmingly simple, almost two dimensional, which probably reflects my training as a graphic designer and my belief in the "less is more" approach. Crafted from sheet steel, pieces are left to oxidise naturally, a process that highlights the intrinsic beauty of the material as the finish evolves with time. Currently I'm working on a range of new pieces which are a little more abstract, still very graphical and based on my passion for long flowing curves.