Kevin is a professional archaeologist who has run his own company from his farm in mid-Wales for over 20 years. He now specialises in the archaeology of greater churches, and is archaeological consultant to Brecon, Bristol and Lichfield Cathedrals. For several months each year Kevin works on his stone sculptures in a small church on the farm.
Kevin has worked in various art forms over the years, but finds the permanence of stone particularly rewarding. Following his excavations in Canterbury Cathedral in 1993, and with the encouragement of the cathedral’s stone masons, he started carving stone after being immersed in medieval architecture for over six months. Once he was familiar with the material, his medieval-style sculpture soon gave way to more personal, dynamic forms, before progressing to pieces influenced by microscopic life. Recent pieces are a development of the microscopic forms into large-scale outdoor pieces.
Statement
I am particularly passionate about stone and what can be achieved using different stone types to help reflect the spirit of the sculpture that I am creating. White Italian marble lends itself well to the sculptures that I have been carving based on diatoms and pollen, giving them a sense of lightness, whilst the more local Mandale fossil limestone from Derbyshire produces a feeling of weight and solidity. My family and I run a small farm, grow our own organic food and run a small community ‘The Wilderness Trust’. A recent project is the building of a working Neolithic settlement and we run courses in Prehistoric arts.
www.kevinblockleysculpture.weebly.com