William Peers freestanding sculptures are primarily in marble, with the materials being sourced from Italy and Portugal.
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Tal
Tal was the inspiration for the exhibition ‘A Line in Space’. I find this form fascinating, and have carved several versions of it.
Yoha
This sculpture reclines, and I can’t help being reminded of Henry Moore. Are those languid limbs to some?
Tulla
A double loop, almost touching along its length.
Tetsu
This is the most compact of the series and we are thrown off the scent of its regularity as it is balanced off-centre.
Loren
Loren lies back, and it is unusual in the series as the resting point is far from the centre.
Sandlin
At Sandlin the children danced in the dark with sparklers. The lines of the sculpture remind me of great sweeps of light.
Achill
Deceptively simple; this form is astonishingly difficult to balance. The weight is low and the circle eccentric, giving rise to the speculation: Is the irregularity causing the thinning? Or gravity perhaps?
Lyra
The base with its two feet lends Lyra a figurative feel, and the unbalanced sculpture seems as if it is moving.
Owello
For a while Owello was too regular, too balanced. I pushed (not literally as you cannot push marble) one side up in relation to the other to give some restlessness to it.
Mogal
One of the most challenging sculptures of the series, technically. I like the negative space trefoil.
Tasil
Double rings almost touching whizz round on a solid base.
Aire
Almost round, yet a tension seems to exist between the earth and the sky. This ‘tug of war’ might have caused the thinning.
Pohai
This is pushing the eccentric circle even further. Some convex forms become concave and thin at the point of most change.
Tawin
Both irregular and balanced, the trajectory seems uncertain, hesitant and yet still as the weight is central.
Timolin
Timolin is flatter and wider than Tasil and Tulla but with the same double loop.
Perot
Not one, but two, loops in space. Here I tried to push the eccentricity to one corner and let the rest be still.
Mila
A particularly lovely piece of Portuguese marble, and one of the first bases that moved away from the rectangular.
Cornula
I have tried variations of this theme. Here the section is a trefoil and the twist quite gentle. I like forms that loop and trap the eye for a moment.
Sesillo
I vacillate between very regular forms and those that are less so. This sculpture was undecided for a while before I found this solution. I like it when a sculpture really is a voyage of discovery.
Elias
Elias has a change of direction. There were square edges that I took against and am happy I did. Now with softer lines I could concentrate on the balance alone.
Tamasan
Here the ring wobbles and the balance is sought from an unbalanced beginning. I had a real fight to make it work and now love the result.
Carlow
Ideas often lead to variation. In ‘Carlow’ the structure used in ‘Galvano’ was reduced to points. The angular mechanical edges give way to soft undulation.
Lynaeus
At least twenty years ago I carved this pattern in a relief carving. I wanted to try the pattern wrapped around a sphere.
Paluno
Here, and even more tricky, I wrapped the same pattern seen in ‘Lynaeus’ around a ring.
Galvano
This has a much more mathematical feel than most of my work. Actually the segments are marked out with string rather than with any fiendish mathematical calculation.
Kotori
Here the twisting motif bends to form a saddle. Birds, weather vanes and horses come to mind.
Lunasa
Sculpture where there is no end to the flow interests me. The form circulates as do the forms upon the form. I was very glad to find a split piece of marble with natural rust staining, for the sculpture to sit on.
Vanya
A larger version of ‘Lunasa’, sitting very happily on a rough piece of Tunisian Black Marble.
Corinth
The twisting design adds tension to the ring and gives the sculpture power. I love the colouring on this marble.
Elverben
This is such a wonderful material to look at but very difficult to carve. The twisting design feels very different on the dark stone.
Still Crenham
I wanted to try a circular form with the same patterning and a smaller hole. The difference, in size and shape on the inside to the outside, is correspondingly much greater.
Fisk
I wanted to see how the twisting motif employed in ‘Corinth’ would work on a vertical form. I left the top rough (as well as a small section of the bottom) to remind us that it was made from a natural material. It brings to mind an ancient architectural remnant too.
Polette
These soft forms, joined to make a ring, bring to mind all sorts of good things to me. Boiled sweets, polished pebbles on the seashore, old bars of soap, coins worn smooth by countless pockets. The more I look, the more I see. This idea led on to ‘Gamelin’ (below).
Sable
Here the discs are smaller up above, giving the sense that they are going right up into the sky.
Gamelin
After focusing on making circular forms with touching segments, here I am trying to simplify things with just three forms. Making each form work in its own right - as well as touching the others - is tricky.
Wineri
The loop with a twist. Rarely is a sculpture interesting from all sides. This one is, I believe.
Tamago
We look in inside this world and see a moon or sun. The inside form is balanced with the outer form.
Falkinn
A new thought, playing with this heavy texture to animate a surface. This is the first time that I have employed these wisps - animating the surface. Suddenly the wedge form becomes bristling or scuttling.
Fraenir
The texture, once more, giving enormous movement to this curling form.
Friel
With its multiple forms falling, or perhaps rising up. Is it growing or cascading? I’m not sure.
Pershar
Very gentle and smooth on one side, and aggressive on the other. I am happy to have introduced this element.
Menura
Flowing forms from constraint to liberty. Reminiscent of ‘Kotori’ and birdlike figuration.
Tor
The very start of a series of sculptures, exhibited at John Martin Gallery in 2014. The fitting together of two forms. Is it a figure? This is the simplest - and to my mind - one of the most satisfactory sculptures of the series.
Young Able
The first step away from the ‘alkathene joint’. The segments are separated from each other. Independent. They climb and twist.
Glad Able
The segments get very small and thin towards the top. Trying to reach upwards.
Torque I
The forms and symmetry of the void are nicely balanced here. I made a larger version of this a little later on.
Rushes ’O
This sculpture of joined segments leaves only a tiny hole in the middle. The strength and presence of the hole becomes as powerful as the forms themselves.
Still Cedar
One of four small rings of segments that came out of a single block of marble. They work together wonderfully as a mini series within the exhibition. Here: tiny, sharp, angular segments.
Freewheel
The fourth in the mini series. Here the angled forms give the sculpture movement and life. Is it spinning?
Torin
Following the circular segmented forms, what would it be like to visually twist the circle up? Technically very awkward that’s how! The few inches inbetween the passing forms take as long as the rest of the sculpture. Ever changing as you walk around.
Skipping Jo
Here I go from technical trickery, to technical lunacy! A double twist. This is the only sculpture in the series where I abandon the segmented forms - I feel they might have over complicated an already complex form.
Lazy Boy
One of the simplest and free-flowing of the series. Stacked forms but in a loose, slightly more arbitrary way than some.
Slim
My young son calls this the ‘Stack of Books’. He is right. The simple twist by way of animation works well here. It also brings to mind oriental temples.
Tarjack I
The first, smaller version of the ‘Stack of Books’. The forms are curved in all directions giving great animation.
Torque II
A larger versions of one of the four from the mini series of rings. Lovely in the landscape. I have an idea to carve a bigger version still.
Tarjack II
Here the segments sit on top of one another like squared mushrooms. How it changes everything - making the underside curved.
Caper
The ferns that grown in the hedgerows in Cornwall unfurl like this. Stacked forms enjoying the vertical and the circular ideas in one.
Revel
A second version, where the smallest forms continue upwards. By cutting the marble cleverly it becomes so animated that it is hard to imagine that the sculpture came from a single block.
Coy
Here the diminishing segments twist and fall again as they die out. Lots of very awkward little gaps to bruise the knuckles on. Ouch!
Bess
The largest sculpture in the series with fantastic colouration. I love the animation created by the segments changing direction.
Join
I love this bend. It came from looking at a bent piece of plastic pipe. The end hovers off the surface of the base: almost touching.
Clinch
This work feels like a transition into a new direction. The bent articulation is still seen but the curling limbs and opening of the void are new. There is more air than stone.
Cinquain
I carved a series called 100 Days. This carving was after the end of that series and was the continuing the point I had reached. The figure is articulated with a device discovered and employed during the second half of that series.
Triad
This is as if two forms have been put together. The articulated limbs below and the triangular motif above that reminds me of Gaudier Brzeska. He was one of my earliest passions. The whole assemblage is very energetic.
Lifting Mist
This first sculpture I have carved in this wonderful Onyx. Hard and brittle; more like glass than marble but with a wonderful translucence.
In and Out of Weeks
This undulating form in Esmarelda Onyx mirrors the shapes found on the front on the back. The top and bottom edges have a rough crust that only serves to enhance the extraordinary colouration found within.
Green Torso
This Esmarelda Onyx is so crazy, so exotic, so overwhelming that only a simple form works best. It is also very liable to fall apart if there are parts sticking out of it.
Onyx Figure
Onyx is quite, quite different from marble - more translucent. The forms need exaggeration in order to be read. With the sun on it, this torso glows.
Run
This joyful figure with huge limbs sprints forward. She has wonderful warm colouration on her front which is typical of marble from this area of Portugal.
Walking Figure
This figure is after Egyptian carvings I have seen and loved. The figure is striding out, yet formal and still.
Swimmer
This swimming torso delicately balances on her belly. I enjoyed thinking about the roll of the trunk and trying to put it in the carving.
Angel
I love carving these figures. The strength, or rather weakness, of the marble demands that the limbs are massive. The constraints of the material lead the way.
