Simon Gaiger’s metal sculptures are
simultaneously and landscape, narrative and abstract. His sculptures are
influenced by the layers of his life and surroundings; his childhood, time
spent working as a shipwright’s assistant, the sea, engineering, history and
mythology – drawings and thoughts collected over many years in the piles of
black and grey sketchbooks that fill his home and studio in Wales. There is a
raw tension of opposing forces in his sculptures, elements strain and pull
against each other or balance precipitously. Many of them can be re-configured
to make different horizons, changing the interplay of spaces within and around
them, inviting participation from the viewer. Where colour is used it unifies
form and accentuates the play of light. Titles too are relevant, not always in
the literal sense but as another aspect of the rhythm of the piece. His sculptures
are constructed from wood and forged and welded steel, sometimes concrete. It
is the energy of their forms and the universality of their themes that give
them their lasting resonance.