Hamish Black
Hamish Black was born in Braintree, Essex, in 1948. He studied in Eastbourne School of Art (1965-67), at North East London Polytechnic (1967-70) and at the Slade School of Art, University College, London (1970-72). Black's origins as a sculptor lie in his youth, when he assisted his father in the family black-smith business. This childhood apprenticeship, which he undertook through financial necessity, led to a larger deeper interest in making forms with metals, and at the age of sixteen he began to study art. His long professional training - seven years in all - confirmed his need to work in metal, although he has realised sculpture in both wood and ceramic. His method is additive, a form of assemblage in three dimensions, as opposed to the reductive process of the stone or wood carver.