Richard Deacon at Tate Britain

In this great short video, sculptor Richard Deacon says ‘I don’t carve, I don’t model. I fabricate'. As a result, his work is mesmerising; firstly I was caught by his design - was it symmetrical or just well balanced; then there was colour, contrasts, texture...and finally as I approached and walked around each piece I became absorbed by how he could ever have created it!

At a distance his wooden creations capture movement in a real and grounded way, but up close, the wood is twisted and curved in ways that are almost impossible. The more I looked at each piece the more I saw contrasts between form and space, light and dark, curves and angles and in the juxtaposition of wood and metal. I loved the curves of layered and laminated wood, woven stainless steel, curvaceous terracotta, bolted aluminium and glazed angular shapes, and I felt a deep satisfaction of something complete and integral. The pieces were so large and well displayed in the Tate Britain space, that I felt uplifted and energised by this amazing exhibition.