TD 1
ARTSDESK STONE COLD IMITATIONS The former antique
restorer turned stone sculptor, Jason Ellis, draws on his experience as a conservationist to realise, and genuflect towards, renowned stone reliefs from art history in his latest exhibition. words Jack O’Higgins Jason Ellis received rave reviews with his last exhibition Old Anatomy – a series of stone carvings modelled on various organs. But there was one problem; nothing was selling. “You could say Oliver [Sears, gallery owner] gave me a very long leash to hang myself with!” Ellis laughs. “Not even the medical fraternity bought them. My wife said to me ‘who’s gonna put a pair of lungs on their fucking mantelpiece?’ And she was right!” Ellis’ latest show, Simulacra, is a more palpable proposition for someone’s sitting room, although no less compelling. It’s a series of stone relief carvings, predominantly modeled off some of the greatest ancient work in the world. Ellis began as an antique restorer in the late ‘80s, working with furniture and ceramics before moving to renowned art restoration firm Plowden and Smith in ‘91. It was here that he started working with stone. Ellis calls it the perfect match. When asked why he enjoys the medium of stone, Ellis calls it “unforgiving.” It might seem strange for someone to love something because of its severe qualities, but that’s very much the attraction for Ellis. “There’s a Danish sculptor, Robert Jacobsen, who said that ‘the material repays in inspiration what you have given it in your attempt to serve it’. Stone doesn’t want to be tamed. It’s the opposite of clay, which will just move wherever. You go more cautiously. Nothing is easy with stone and that’s part of the challenge, part of the pleasure. It’s getting something out of a material that is very intractable.” A lot of Ellis’ work is fueled by a desire to push himself. He’d be the first to admit that Simulacra initially came from a simple urge to develop his skills. “[This exhibition] started off as an exercise for myself, a kind of technical challenge. I wanted to learn how to carve in relief. All my work till now has been three dimensional pieces and this is a whole different skill. People have described it as drawing in stone. For example, the lioness is only 3.5 millimetres deep. If you 70