View the Work of a Sculptor/Artist emerging from obscurity
Ralph Drift is a wood artist based in Britain, specializing in deep relief work.
The main themes are “The Sea” and “Still Life”.
Two Sculptural Vessels, The Sea Vases, were bought by Daniel Katz and “The Breaking Wave” (the Essential Sea Series) by Raffaello Tomasso (Tomasso Brothers Fine Art)
My main theme is the Sea, with Still Life running as a strong side current.
I have also combined the two themes which can be seen in my “marine still lifes”. It just happened that these two ‘introduced’ themselves at the beginning of my relief cutting practice. I got absorbed by them and have not yet had a chance to try other subjects.
In addition I found out, while doing my waves and still lifes, that working and developing a theme may involve certain elaborations in technique to suit expression on (or through) this particular theme. This, together with the fact that deep wood relief work is extremely labour intensive and time consuming, has disinclined me so far from freely experimenting with other subjects.
The reliefs are made mainly from elm, with strongly pronounced grain, which adds a dimension to the deeply sculpted work. Although my reliefs are visibly solid and sculptural, some of them retain a certain picture like quality. I had in fact started with the idea of bringing a painting out of the flat but not quite realising it in 3D. The effect is, given the right lighting, one of physical tangibility and sculptural certainty yet of elusiveness, for you cannot grasp the thing as you can grasp a proper free standing sculpture.
The reliefs are mounted on board upholstered with dark green or dark blue velvet. This agreeably offsets the tone of the oil-finished wood creating a kind of ‘framing’ background. They are hung on the wall with a spotlight fixed above. The position of the spotlight is determined individually for every piece.
My images are, as you can see, strongly figurative and will remain so in the foreseeable future. I intend to carry on with the existing themes, but will consider other subjects on suggestion or in the case of possible commission.
One of my long term aims is to expand the present series (now at 4) of stylizations, on my theme The Essential Sea to, say, 15 or 20, and show it as a body, separately from other work, at another solo exhibition.
Private client – primarily aimed at sector. My work will ideally suit a private interior that would offer more scope for specific lighting.
