Chisholm Gallery

Ackers, Marie

British Contemporary

When I started sculpting,my work was initially inspired and influenced by the work of the 19th century “French Animaliers,” such as Pierre Jules Mene and Antoine Louis Barye (work 2005-2007 and 2008-2009). My work was capturing the beauty and power of the animal and capturing the essence of the subject – I sculpt mainly horses, dogs and a bit of wildlife.

Complete Gallery of Marie Acker’s Artwork

I have studied anatomy and movement to understand the subject but I now feel that sculpting so close to reality is actually stoping me capturing the pure essence and the true force of the movement. In some of my latest work in that period of time , I already started to remove some of the details or part of the body of the horse but I feel I need to strip down to pure lines, remove any details and simplify forms, movement , understand rythme to find the inner strength of the piece.

“The simplicity is the complexity solved.” – Brancusi

With my latest research (pictures above), my inspiration have also moved and I am finding new inspiration in artists such as Francois Pompon, Calder, Marini, Lynn Chadwick but also Henry Moore, Dick Marcusen and Picasso.

On of the artist who is probably inspiring the most is Pompon. Pompon ‘s preoccupation in his art is to express the movement with the strenght of the lines that defines the animal. Volumes are defined in space by the purity of the lines. The more a sculpture is removed from details that tied it to the realism, morethe form capture the essence of the subject but this requires perfect anatomy knowledge.