ABOUT Stephen Williams

I produced the online gallery ‘StephenWSculpture’ in 2018 as an online gallery for the sale of my sculptures. I have been making bronze sculptures since 1990 and made my first cast glass sculpture in 2006. In 2017 I bought my first kiln and in 2018 completed my first aluminium rotational mold for the production of polyethylene lamp sculptures.

More about Stephen
I began work in 1976 in the pathology laboratories at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, England. I was the first in my family to go to university and graduated from Manchester University in England in 1984 with a degree in Bacteriology and Virology. During this time I also trained in life drawing and pottery. In 1987, after training as a science teacher, I taught in Papua New Guinea with Voluntary Service Overseas.

Two years later I immigrated to New Zealand and settled in Wellington, where I studied abstract sculpture and the lost wax process for making bronzes. In 1992 I had my first exhibition with Melvin Day, a prominent New Zealand artist and art historian who was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Art.

I decided to return to England in 1993 for a limited period, to pursue my dream as a maker of abstract bronze sculpture and also to continue with my other passion for creative writing. During my time in England, I completed two novels and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Cardiff University and had several exhibitions including a solo exhibition at Broomhill Art Hotel, Devon, UK.

I returned to New Zealand with my partner and daughter in 2002 to have a lifestyle closer to nature and the culture of the Pacific. In 2006 I began making freestanding abstract sculptures and had my first piece cast in glass. As well as casting solid glass sculptures, I enjoy the challenge of casting hollow pieces. With the hollow glass sculptures, it creates an extra dimension, enabling the interior to become a feature. I still enjoy working in bronze; however, I find glass is exciting because of the choice of colour and the combination of light and the transparency of the glass.

In addition to making bronze and cast glass sculptures, I have been keen to look at ways of producing affordable art. In 2015, I chose four sculptures suitable for scaling up in size and made prototypes in polyester resin. I was pleased with the outcome and started to learn about the manufacturing process in making rotationally molded pieces in polyethylene. Because of the opaque nature of the plastic, it enables the sculptures to be lit internally using a LED cabinet light. With guidance from a production design engineer, I learned about pattern making and aluminium molds. Although, making the prototype and pattern are extremely time-consuming and the aluminium molds are expensive to produce, it has enabled the quick manufacture of abstract sculptures at a much lower cost. As sales of the polyethylene sculptures increase, I will produce more rotational aluminium molds of my sculptures.