Ant Beetlestone is a sculptor working broadly in the spirit of Elisabeth Frink.

Born in Hertfordshire in 1974, he was brought up in the Midlands, and studied at the Frink School of Figurative Sculpture in Stoke-on-Trent, run by Rosemary Barnett FRBS. Influenced by the school’s teaching of formalism, expression and truth to materials, he has built a body of work that is both crafted and considered.

He has been principally concerned with stone and wood-carving, but has recently started working in direct plaster to cast in bronze. He still carves commissioned work, as well as producing bronzes from his studio in Gloucestershire. He has shown work in galleries and sculpture parks across the UK, and has been commissioned to produce public art.

Central to his work is the relationship between drawing and sculpture. He explores this dynamic in myths and fairy tales, as explained by psychology, spiritualism and philosophy. For him, the carving of stone or wood is a largely intuitive process, which asks profound questions of the psyche. Plaster is both carved and modelled and, uniquely, it offers limitless scope for re-working. This presents exciting opportunities, as well new problems.

He says of his work:

“Art begins with wonder - the phenomenal world is a strange paradox.
The acceptance of a ‘strangeness’ to the seen world is essential to our ability to be surprised by it.
We can all be open to surprises, but an artist should seek them out.”

Ant Beetlestone
2007