Hamish Mackie

Hamish Mackie was born in 1973 and grew up on a livestock farm in Cornwall. He has been sculpting as a career since 1996 and has works in public and private collections around the world. Public commissions include Merrill Lynch, Hiscox Insurance, Barclays Bank, The National Trust, RSPCA, Woburn Abbey, Chapman University California and Gilbane Development Company Rhode Island.

Hamish has been sculpting since school, he is lucky to have found a natural talent, as well as a passion, which was developed at Radley College, Falmouth school of Art and Kingston University. His sculptures are cast in bronze or silver as limited editions, each signed, dated and numbered.

Hamish has a major solo show of his sculptures every three years, the next is in The Gallery in Cork Street, London in October 2010. Since his last solo show Hamish has built a purpose built sculpture studio in Oxfordshire from which he is sculpting his latest collection. The new studio was christened with the life size stag, which he shot, sculpted and ate!

During 2009 Hamish will be exhibiting at Chelsea Flower Show as well as the CLA Game Fair. There are also plans to film a documentary on the making of a sculpture which will involve a field research trip in Kenya sculpting elephants in their natural habitat. There are also plans being made to put on an exhibition in Oman / Middle East.

Hamish sculpts from life where possible; this helps him capture the essence of his subject. “Nothing beats following a heard of elephant in the bush, watching grouse on the moor, or deer in a wood.” He is an outdoors person hence the inspiration.

The original is sculpted in clay or wax over armature made of steel and aluminium. From the original, a mould is made for the lost wax casting technique using a ceramic shell to pour the bronze into. Hamish has always been intrigued that it is possible to cast a fingerprint into bronze. He likes to leave a history in the sculpture surface as to how the anatomy was built up, for example the forceful push of his palm running down a leopard's leg generates power into the sculpture and leaves a history as to how it was made.

In comparison Bird form, currently being worked on, has an almost obsessive tightness to the surface. His spontaneous looseness is only achievable after 12 years practise and a thorough understanding of anatomy. Texture depends on his perception of the subject and it's character. The vigour and energy Hamish creates in his work contrasts with the solidity of bronze and the outcomes are dramatic, powerful and full of movement.