Feminist Public Sculpture Research Forum Thursday 4 July 3pm Blenheim Walk Gallery, Leeds Arts University, Leeds, LS2 9AQ Hazel is delighted to be joining Professor Griselda Pollock, Sharon Thomas, and Rachel Reeves for this free…
Fond memories. Just watched ‘Secrets of the McVitie’s Factory’ on Ch5 (7 April 2019). Great to see the retired women biscuit factory workers – the Cracker Packers – Grace, Ann, Susan, and Jean, who helped…
The Economist journalist Joel Budd interviewed me for ‘They could be heroes: Britain is in the midst of a Victorian-style statue mania’. Our Emmeline gets a name check and photo in this interesting article. The…
What an amazing day. Best estimates are that we were joined by 6,000 people in St Peter’s Square, Manchester, many of whom had noisily and colourfully marched from the Pankhurst Centre or the People’s History…
Sarah Jenkins is a fantastic model. It has been a real privilege to work with her again. Sorry Sarah for the cold, the heat, the corset-wearing, the pains in your legs and arms from holding…
In the heat of this exceptionally hot summer Sarah wears corset, dress and jacket, so I can continue to sculpt Emmeline’s clothing. Progress is slow but sure. Before I extend the skirt right down to…
So on go the clothes, layer upon layer. The skirt needs a lot of clay so we build an armature that goes around her legs, liked a hooped petticoat. Then I spend hours adding the…
In early summer, Councillor Andrew Simcock (Chair of the Emmeline Pankhurst Statue Campaign), Manchester City Council women councillors and women from the SafeSpots charity visit my studio to see the clay Our Emmeline in progress…
Call me traditional. As far as I’m concerned, the only way to get a convincing figure is to work with a model and start with the unclothed figure first. If it was good enough for…
I am often asked why I use models, as it adds time and expense. My response is to ask, how could you sculpt a convincing statue without working with a model? If you want your…
With Our Emmeline’s armature complete, there’s no time to waste. On goes the ceremonial first piece of clay. But with half a tonne of clay to add, I have to speed up. Fast enough for…
Tick. The first stage of the armature is done. The main scaffolding structure, including a ‘back iron’ to take the weight, is in place. From this early stage you get a strong sense of the…