Sir Nigel Gresley sculpture - by Hazel Reeves

Public art commissions

My passion is telling stories through sculpture. Public art commissions offer me unique opportunities to uncover and relate stories that must be told. And they provide opportunities for meaningful and fun engagement with local communities.

Photo of Pankhurst sculpture in clay by Hazel Reeves, photo Nigel KingstonThe unveiling of my latest commission – Emmeline Pankhurst – was in Manchester on Friday the 18 December 2018, marking 100 years since the first women voted in a General Election.  Emmeline was the inspiring leader of the Suffragette Movement, born in Moss Side in 1858. With my background in women’s rights and gender equality, this is a particularly exciting project.

On International Women’s Day 2018 my Cracker Packers bronze commission was unveiled – it celebrates the lives of women biscuit Hazel with the partially clothed Cracker Packersfactory workers from the Carr’s (now McVitie’s) factory. I was inspired by the warm and vibrant stories of the camaraderie of the Cracker Packers, past and present. Such stories of working women’s lives rarely make it into formal history yet need to be celebrated and shared with future generations.

Hazel Reeves sculpting the monumental Sir Nigel Gresley in her studio (photo by Roger Bamber)In April 2016 my 7ft 4in bronze statue of Sir Nigel Gresley, the eminent railway engineer, was unveiled at King’s Cross Station, London. In preparation, I was commissioned in 2014 to sculpt a maquette (or scale-model) of Sir Nigel Gresley and Mallard. For further details see the dedicated sections of this website or my blog.

My full-figure bronze sculpture of Sadako Sasaki, with a ‘paper crane’, was unveiled in the Hed Wenn peace garden in Wales on the 21st September 2012, the Word Day of Peace. For further details see the dedicated section of this website.

If you are interested in commissioning a piece of public art, please email me at hazel [at] hazelreeves.com.
Mercy II - sculpture by Hazel Reeves

Portrait commissions

I have undertaken numerous portrait bust sculpture commissions, with a particular focus on those working for social justice, including the internationally acclaimed Professor Jude Howell of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); the age activist Ralph Chapman; and Diane Kingston OBE and Baroness Jane Campbell of Surbiton, activists promoting the rights of people with disabilities:

‘Hazel captured my vision and direction of travel – the aspiration and motivation of all socially excluded people’, Diane Kingston OBE

Interested in commissioning a portrait sculpture?

It is the ultimate gift – a portrait sculpted and captured in bronze. Whether it is to mark a special occasion, to preserve memories of your children, or to create an heirloom to pass to the next generation, it is an investment that will bring much pleasure. The best way to learn more about commissioning a sculpture is to email me – hazel [at] hazelreeves.com – for further information about the process as well as the costs. As with any portrait, the best results are achieved through face-to-face sittings rather than through photographs alone. These sittings can be held in your own home or in my studio in West Sussex.

‘I had seen that she [Hazel] was able to convey not simply the physical likeness of a subject, but something of the person themselves…she is equally able to create an image which conveys the public vision of an individual as well as the more private sides of his/her persona’, Ralph Chapman