Touchstones of Inspiration: Notes from a Sculptor
Lecture by Hugh Lassen
Thursday, September 21
5:30pm
Lord Hall, Room 100
Hugh Lassen was born in 1976 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He learned to carve after seeing a small Native American spear weight carving (also called a “Bird Stone”) in a museum. This surprising event lead him to study sculpture at the Art Students League of New York and drawing at the Spring Studio, NY. Often an idea will emerge from a drawing and will provide the beginning for a sculpture. By carving directly in the stone or wood the idea will be refined until, hopefully, it works in the round. He lives with his wife and two children in Cherryfield, Maine.
Artist’s Statement: I find that my own sculptural aims revolve around mass, bulk, weight, in a phrase – ponderable form. For many years I’ve studied the figure using a range of exercises to develop my sense of touch. From these efforts and from my experiences carving, I realize that, despite being an abstract sculptor, my work is founded on the human form, and occasionally, on animal forms. The subtle, quiet forces that inspire us are perhaps better left unstated but broadly, my aim is to create vital, life-enhancing forms.