Art - Stillness Within

“People normally place representational sculptures somewhere between garden ornaments and neo-classical architecture, but I feel I am a modern person doing modern things,” says Pippa Burley, one half of the Artwave exhibition going up in the Crypt Gallery today. Pippa sculpts figures, either life-size or in miniature, usually in clay. “It’s an art form which has been going a long time, but it’s not old hat. I mean, when are people dull? Everyone is unique and every mood is unique and I am trying to capture some of that. It is a lifetime goal.”

The exhibition is called ‘The Stillness Within’ and Pippa is sharing the wonderful space in the Crypt Gallery with her brother Ian Lawrence. Ian is a landscape painter. “I’ve walked around the Downs for 40-odd years and in my work I try to portray the moods they evoke in me.” Ian never takes photos or sketches, but works from memory in his studio, using acrylics. “I use a multi-layered wash technique usually associated with watercolours which adds a lot of variety to the colour”, he says. He is the resident artist for Southern Railways, and generally works from his studio on Platform 1 in St Leonard’s Warrior Square Station. “It has led to a number of strange truncated conversations as people wander in and are inspired by the work to start telling me deep emotional stories. Then, halfway through, they look at their watches, realise they have to catch the train, turn on their heels and leave.” AG