Roger Hardy

Roger Hardy

Roger attended Kingston Upon Thames University and graduated with a B.A.hons in graphic design in 1994. After 10 successful years working in design, creating among other things the Wall’s ice cream logo and Formula 1 identity, he and his wife decided to leave London in 2000 and return to where Roger was born and raised in Suffolk to concentrate on his own fine art practice full time.

Time & Tide…

“The estuary on the river Alde has been a my source of inspiration for the last 4 years or so. Whether it is searching at low tide for wood, worn by time and tide or collecting fragments from the boat yards, these found elements are relics of a history and time gone by.

Using found river wood in sculpture has a previous life and a story to tell. I think this is why I am drawn to it. Although the wood I find has mostly been worked by man, nature has re claimed it and shaped it over time. I am saving it and giving it back life and soul in the form of the human figure. Revealing the layers of history and life it once had.

I do this by re shaping and carving, releasing the soul and character of the human form within. Strangely most of my finds have human characteristics worn into them by nature.

I like to work with the timeless quality of the sculptures. They could have been carved in the Middle Ages by long lost ancestors or pilgrims. I like them to take on a totemistic resonance. They seem to have a soul/life becoming an icon of humanity. This aspect fascinates me.

When working on groups of figures I have in mind the recent migration and movement of people from troubled lands. The river where I find the elements is of course a great conduit for the movement of people and spreading of cultures. I would like to think that the sculptures resonate with this. With new elements arriving on the next high tide. Nomadic, yet routed in the East Anglian landscape, with a very strong sense of place and identity.

I like working with sculpture. They are real, tangible objects. They inhabit space and time. Recently I have been translating these sculptures into bronze which is adding a layer of permanence and following a centuries old tradition.