Richard Sweeney

A series of scluptural works created through the cutting, scoring and folding of paper.



Sliceforms comprise several interlocking sheets intersecting at right angles to create forms that suggest three dimensionality.




'Elements of repetition within architecture are very appealing to me, I’m drawn to the way structures can be produced with sets of repeating elements, each of which is simple in its own right, yet contributes to create a complex and rigid structure.' - Richard Sweeney.

This work appealed to me because of it's initial complexity and the smooth forms these sharp shapes are able to create. However, on taking a closer look, as mentioned by Sweeney, you can see that it is not so complex as first thought.

Willard Wigan

I came across this sculptor in an article in the Telegraph. However, he is not your average sculptor. He is the creator of the world's smallest sculptures. According to Wigan, 'I need to work between heartbeats, or else the pulse in my finger will cause a mistake.'


The Statue of Liberty

Wigan carves his microscopic figures out of rice, and fragments of grains of sand and sugar, which are then mounted on pinheads or placed in the eye of a needle. To bring his works of art to life he paints them using a hair plucked from the head of a housefly.


Henry VIII with his six wives

An excerpt from the article reads:
'I was sculpting the whole cast of Alice in Wonderland and I was really looking forward to finishing it because it was that good,it would probably of been my best piece so far. But just as I was about to put Alice in place alongside the other characters I inhaled her. I breathed in at the wrong moment, and she was gone. In my panic I accidentally wiped out some of the characters too.'
I think this shows just how dleicate and micrscopic his work is. I find it fascinating and would love to see how he works.


The Lloyd's Building

MoMA, New York

MoMA is regarded as the leading museum of modern art in the world. I visited it on my recent trip to New York. It has a very impressive collection including 'The Starry Night' by Van Gogh, 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' by Picasso, 'Campbell's Soup Cans' by Andy Warhol, and other work by Kandinsky, Mondrian and Magritte amongst many others. It is interesting to see how much more of an impact these famous paintings have in real life.


One painting which really stood out for me was 'Water Lillies' by Monet. I was surprised at how large it was. The size really had an effect on the viewer. It made it a more powerful and dramatic painting than when I had seen it as an image in a book.


Another artist's work which really impressed me was that of Jackson Pollock. The Museum held a number of his pieces. Previously I had been quite sceptical of his work, not believing it to show much skill. However, since seeing them in real life and being able to look at them up close, it was intriguing to see the surface of the work. The paintings became more interesting this way than when they are viewed two dimensionally in a book.

Georgia O'Keeffe

I admire the work of Georgia O'Keeffe. I think her style is really interesting. She creates many paintings of flowers. I like the way she makes you look at a seemingly normal, everyday object in a different way. The paintings are of flowers but these flowers become powerful abstract images.


'Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven't time - and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time.

If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.

...Well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower - and I don't.'

-Georgia O'Keeffe