‘Heaven Sent’ Sculpture heads to Princesshay
This spring, Princesshay will play host to a large and exciting sculpture across the Easter period for three weeks.
On 31st March, ‘Heaven Sent’, a partially complete sculpture by Exeter based artist, Simon Ruscoe, will be unveiled in Princesshay, standing on a plinth which will be specially designed to encourage the people of Exeter to support his Kickstarter campaign whilst collecting donations for NSPCC.
Alison Armer, Community Fundraising Manager at NSPCC for Devon and Cornwall said; “I was delighted when Simon contacted me to say that he would like the NSPCC to benefit from donations received from the public, during the time that his “Heaven Sent” sculpture will be on display at Princesshay. I am sure there will be many who will be impressed and moved by the beautiful sculpture.”
Exeter based Ruscoe has been quietly making sculptures for over twenty years, creating and building a substantial body of work often charged with controversial themes and emotive narratives. ‘Heaven Sent’ is a life-size sculpture of a mother and child. Symbolic of hope, the sculpture is both powerful and beautiful in stature. Simon is no stranger to Princesshay, one of his works, ‘Only Hope Remains’, a 20-foot steel sculpture was situated in Princesshay during March 2013. Heaven Sent is oppositional to the bleak subject matter found in his previous work. Light floods the final sculpture and breaks through the dark themes that were infiltrating this particular series. The new sculpture aims to open up positive conversations about our children’s future.
After being situated in Princesshay for three weeks, Simon plans to organize a solo show to showcase the whole series of plasterworks in Exeter and beyond.
However, funding and support is crucial to the completion of ‘Heaven Sent’. Simon has organized a Kickstarter campaign to run alongside the exhibition. The aim is to raise enough funds to sculpt two additional life-size figures that will appear to freefall, and this will thread together the collective sculpture’s full narrative. It will result in ‘Heaven Sent’ being a final imposing sculpture which will stand 14ft in height.
Wayne Pearce, Princesshay Centre Director, “We are excited to have another one of Simon’s works at Princesshay this spring. Simon is extremely passionate about his exhibition and we are pleased to support him by offering a venue for his latest work, ‘Heaven Sent’. We are always keen to support local initiatives and projects pioneered by members of the community. Simon is incredibly talented and we are looking forward to seeing the final piece.”
Writer and Editor, Dr Sally Flint, based at the University of Exeter spoke about Simon Ruscoe’s sculptures, saying; “Thought-provoking, disquieting and memorable. He is unafraid to take on contentious themes. Simon has commissioned sculptures sited at the University of Exeter - most recently his sculpture ‘In Our Hands’ stands outside The Business School. It will be interesting to see ‘Heaven Sent’ on display in a public place as a way to aid this series of work reaching completion while benefitting an applicable charity, the NSPCC.”
Simon is looking forward to showcasing his work in Princesshay again saying; “I’m very grateful to the team at Princesshay for their continuing support in displaying my work, supporting the NSPCC and promoting the Kickstarter campaign. He goes on to say that Heaven Sent is a pivotal sculpture for him. “Arguably the idea of how to best depict a symbol of hope has been growing in the back of my mind for several years while I was working on the larger series of figures that highlight problems in society. I came to realise the mother and child could best depict the antidote to despondency and despair. Children have a great sense of optimism for the future. We want the best for our children.”
The plasterwork series of sculptures are carved in plaster of paris over a steel armature. Detailed areas such as the faces are first created in clay then cast and added separately. Simon developed a unique process where the plaster is infused with a specific resin cocktail, once cured; it produces hardness similar to stone. It is difficult to calculate how many hours ‘Heaven Sent’ took to create as Simon works full time and the sculptures have all been created around his full time job.
To back the campaign and find out more about Simon’s sculptures please visit www.ruscoe.info
