FORGOTTEN CRAFTS
From her Suffolk studio, Alice Andrea Ewing casts perishable plants and vegetables in bronze to create lifelike sculptures that are made to last
Most people say hello with a handshake or a hug, but artist and founder-sculptor Alice Andrea Ewing is waiting in the doorway of her Suffolk studio with a squash. It’s a clue for those unfamiliar with her work, casting organic materials such as asparagus, apples and shellfish into bronze sculptures using an ancient technique that allows her to preserve their natural form. “The idea that I can connect to something so historic through this medium is humbling,” Alice says. “I feel as though I’m part of a family tree of founders who have nurtured my craft over hundreds of years.”
Dressed in dusty workaday dungarees, Alice has an unstudied, practical style. She is always busy in the run-up to Christmas with one-off commissions, but there is little let-up throughout the year, which is taken up with longer pieces of work, including high-profile collaborations. Many are intertwined with Alice’s ongoing project, Pomarius, inspired by gardens and ancient locations across the UK. In one case, Alice worked with the fashion label Loewe to make a collection of wearable pieces, including bronze mushroom, fig and walnut pendants. In another, she worked with English Heritage to cast fruit and vegetables grown at Audley End House and Gardens in Essex. “I see the worth in stewarding these places,” she says. “Casting the plants and produce I collect from them reinvigorates that worth.”
THE HEAT IS ON
Alice works in a former grain store “in the middle of nowhere except nature”. The nearest somewhere is the village of Brandeston. There’s no heating in her studio, although there is a kettle. “It gets very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter, but I like the way I feel in harmony with the seasons,” she says. “It’s a grounding place.” It can be messy and noisy, too.
The space is divided into three. It includes a foundry with a furnace where bronze is melted at around 1,200˚C. “I don’t use a thermometer. I’ve learnt to tell from the colour when it’s ready to go,” she says. There’s also a design, preparation and pouring area and a finishing room. “Bronze casting involves a long series of processes that enable me to re-engage with each piece under very different technical circumstances at each stage,” Alice explains. “Do a bad job at any of them and the consequences will catch up with you. It’s a thrilling journey.”
The traditional method of casting is known as Renaissance lost-wax casting. It involves making a wax model of the object she wants to create, and coating it in layers of plaster and ceramic sand to form a mould. This mould is then cooked in a kiln for t
