andy hopper
Mediums Used
Andy Hopper is a British Artist, Sculptor and Master Blacksmith who specialises in hot-forging & formation of high-grade stainless steel and bronze, designed & crafted to create original abstract contemporary sculpture.
Born in 1973 in London, he now lives and works in Dorset England, where his purpose built studio is located. He has received international acclaim having won awards for his work, most notably the highly prestigious Tonypandy Cup in 2014. He has held master class lectures in bronze forging both in England and at the Memphis Metal Museum, USA.
From a very early age he was observant of line and proportion. This concern and fascination of form metamorphosed across a variety of mediums before finally being expressed solely in metal.
Passionately fuelled and deeply inspired by the elemental forces, mathematics and physics that bind the universe, he skilfully combines extreme heat, explosive force and a lifetime of experience to forge in a fluid and controlled way, conjuring supernatural objects that appear to be from other dimensions.
Andy Hopper designs and creates high-end contemporary forgework. His speciality is hot forging and forming of stainless steel and bronze. Sculptural and Architectural Design. He is currently working on a new collection of work. `I am a Sculptural Blacksmith. Process fascinates me. The movement and manipulation of hot metal becomes poetry when approached correctly. I use an armoury of equipment to heat and manipulate this very stubborn material, Metal. I predominantly work with stainless steel, as it attains a beautiful, permanently bright finish. Through the use of large industrial machinery, power hammers, hydraulic presses, forges and furnaces and a thousand other tools. I heat, cut, join, bend, forge and deform. It could be said, I reshape the metal using the physics and the very forces that control the universe. This is the fascination and magnetic pull I have towards the material and the potential that it possesses. I am honoured to be part of such an ancient craft. My work is unique by my approach to the forging processes. By using extreme heat, explosive force and skill, I execute my will over the material. My work displays these forces that went in to produce it`. Andy makes sculptural pieces and also works on a commission basis. Each design is totally unique. Winner of the highly prestigious TonyPandy Cup 2014 awarded by The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths for the Stainless Steel and Bronze staircase handrail, `The River Flows`. The Globe Theatre Gates in London also won this Award in 1995. Andy is an International Artist. He was assistant to Supreme Master Blacksmith Michael Roberts FWCB at Memphis Metal Museum, USA in April 2014. The conference was specifically focused on the forging of non-ferrous materials. He also demonstrated Forging Bronze and gave a lecture on the design and manufacture of `The River Flows`. `My ongoing concern is the building blocks of creation. Space and Physics, and the Miracle of Life. My mission statement is to create Artworks that are tactile and physically beautiful that will stand the test of time`.
‘Call it what you will, there is a Power. A source power. And it`s not that it has created, in the past tense. It creates. It is an unstoppable driving force in permanent flow. From sub-atomic particles, to unimaginably vast gas fields where stars are born, all are fuelled by this power.
By definition, `Physics is a science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy and their interactions in the fields of mechanics, heat, sound, electricity, magnetism, and the structure of atoms.`
As my choice of material and associated processes are directly connected to and governed by the parameters of physics, my results are not implied, they are literal. The resulting forms are an honest and brutally frank display of a frozen moment in time brought into existence through a calculated process involving a metal, heat and time.
Mathematical and geometric order exists in all things. This order forms the raw building blocks and the scaffolding. If it were just random it would all be a chaotic, non-repeating mess. Quartz crystals wouldn`t be six-sided growth projections. All creature life on our planet would be an infinitely mutating abomination. Planets and stars would not be conforming spheres, they would be a multitude of messy blobs and odd shapes. These geometrical perfection of these spheres are also governed by gravity. If too small, they are misshapen. Evidence of the powerful invisible force of gravity.
There is a profound beauty in mathematics and geometry. We are in a universe of endless possibilities, constructed by harmonious numerical sequences. Where there are the planets, Jupiter and Saturn which host rain in the form of diamonds and super-dense imploded stars called Magnetars that have shifting surface crust plates of pure iron, which create devastating magnetic fields.
We are but minuscule specs of dust staring out into the infinite, yet we have the ability to harness the power and use that as a tool to communicate. And that for me, is transcendent.’
Sculptures by andy hopper
Credentials
Qualifications
FWCB Fellow of The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths,FWCB Fellow of The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths
Exhibitions
yes
Awards
Andy Hopper is a:-
• Master Blacksmith
• FWCB Fellow of The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths
• Freeman and Liveryman of the The City of London and The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths
• Winner of the highly prestigious TonyPandy Cup 2014. Awarded by WCB for the Stainless Steel and Bronze staircase handrail, `The River Flows`. Holder this award for two consecutive years.
• TonyPandy Cup Award Judge 2015 for WCB 2015.
• Double Grade Distinction at Hereford National School of Blacksmithing June 2008.
• Best Student at Hereford National School of Blacksmithing 2008 Associations:
• Vice Chairman of the British Artist Blacksmith Association 2015/2016
• Member, Society of Designer Craftsmen (SDC) 2015/2016Publications
Article in `Artist Blacksmith` and `The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths` magazines on "The River Flows`. August 2015 edition. Articles written by Andy. A breakdown of the working processes used to create this stunning masterpiece. A very honest view into Andy`s personal life and approach towards his work. Columbia Metals have used `The River Flows` as a case study presented on their website.,Article in `Artist Blacksmith` and `The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths` magazines on "The River Flows`. August 2015 edition. Articles written by Andy. A breakdown of the working processes used to create this stunning masterpiece. A very honest view into Andy`s personal life and approach towards his work. Columbia Metals have used `The River Flows` as a case study presented on their website.
Andy Hopper`s earliest memories of his fascination with metal started at around the age of 4 years old when he asked his mother on the way the school to go into the industrial ball bearing shop to buy the largest one they had. Transfixed with the shiny metal objects, the relationship with the material was crystal clear and his fate was sealed.
He was an artistic child and then went onto Hounslow college of Art and Design. Sadly, after a year at college his mother died and this caused him to leave college. After a few years of finding his feet, Andy had became friends with some people who were living in horsedrawn carts. Never scared of jumping in at the deep end, Andy bought a horse and cart and took to life on the road. This was the beginning of the next very formative chapter.
Already an Artist, this lifestyle was the catalyst to starting his career as a Blacksmith. The grandson of a blacksmith, iron courses through his veins. The intention was to become a Farrier, to shoe horses, but Andy`s artistic drive was too strong and with the need to create Art, coupled with his creative will, his intention to become a Blacksmith was unshakable.
Andy learnt a lot by himself in the early years. Desperate to be apprenticed to an established blacksmith, but at that time it was extremely difficult to find someone who could offer an apprenticeship. Extremely driven and undeterred, Andy worked on with very crude equipment.
Through consistent hard work, passionate ambition and probably blind obsession, coupled with a youthful thirst for learning, humility and respect. Andy is now an accomplished and fully accredited Master Blacksmith. He has come full circle, combining all of his artistic and forging talents to create his Artworks.
He has worked for Master Blacksmith Iain Whitefield, Somerset, England. Supreme Master Blacksmith Brian Russell, County Durham, England. Master Blacksmith Nick Bates, Surrey, England.
Andy is an International Blacksmith. He was assistant to Supreme Master Blacksmith Michael Roberts FWCB at Memphis Metal Museum, USA in April 2014. The conference was specifically focussed on the forging of non-ferrous materials. He also demonstrated Forging Bronze and gave a lecture on the design and manufacture of `The River Flows`.
Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Early Picasso, Barbara Hepworth, Andy Warhol, Carl Blossfeldt, Nature`s hidden codes. The physics that binds our Universe.
`The Queens Tulips`. Southampton, Hampshire, England.
