Bridget Whitehead
My art is a natural progression from a childhood interest in rocks and beach combing, through a career as a geologist, to working stone as a sculptor. I grew up in Cheshire, UK, on the boundary of the lush Cheshire plains and the rugged Pennines of millstone grit and drystone walls.
I like to work with natural stone and with stone like materials to make sculpture that is at home either indoors or outside. As a migrant to Australia I am exercised by the question of where is home. The use of stone in my work connects me to my home and my origins.
I am interested in stone as a sculptural medium. The inherent material properties are a result of the conditions under which the stone was formed and to which it has been subjected since formation. In the same way that geology influences the landscape, the rock type surely influences sculpture made from stone.
I have a degrees in Geology and Environmental and Engineering Geology; my art training has been an informal assemblage of workshops and courses. I am a member of The Sculptors Society.
