Page 55 - Studio International - April 1966

sensuous line in the manner of Brancusi disrupted by works in plaster. 'I came across aluminium accidentally;
Gothic, expressionist elements. This can be seen in the previously I couldn't afford to cast and wanted to do so
series of frontal pieces, deeply influenced by Egyptian without worrying about buyers.' He sought a material
sculpture, hieratic idols, detached and menacing. Check- which could suggest the softness and resonance of plaster;
point has the simple lines of a shoulder or hip from which recently he has begun to actually paint the casts white to
emerge two nervous limb-like gestures. This, like Opus, regain this effect. At the same time he has developed a
is vaguely related to a writhing tree form. Chephren, his feeling for the aluminium itself. 'I like aluminium for its
most impressive frontal work, is distinctly Egyptian; like austere quality; polished bronze is rich and sickly.'
a figure on one leg, the form moves upwards by a series of The choice of material, however, is bound up with
notches to a curious head shape, two fingers, or phalluses, temperament. 'Sculpture is slow enough as it is. I find it
almost a religious gesture. difficult to keep the flow of ideas. I couldn't go on pecking
More recently he has evolved three-dimensional sculp- away at a piece of stone or wood and maintain this flow.'
ture, with figurative elements. 'The problem is to round The form of rough casting also gives him control over the
off the forms with enough presence to give them the finished work. 'I spend much more time on them than I
feeling of a human being. A really magnificent woman used to. The process of doing is now more important than
has this complete presence.' He works from the simplest finishing. I know less about the finished object than I
beginnings. 'I start with drawings, never more than a used to. The original idea is so slight, like making some-
single line, which read completely three-dimensionally to thing out of nothing. There's a lot to be said for pure
me.' On an armature of steel and chicken wire he craftsmanship; I used to sneer at it when I was a student.
Now I know that the crisp quality I want only comes out
of precision.'
The shapes in Wragg's sculpture are simple, related to
nature and the human form—plants, trees, growth, limbs,
torsos, sexual organs. It is in the synthesis of these forms
that Wragg's particular quality emerges. 'I like to find a
beginning and an end; most things in nature have it, a
tree for instance. I prefer not to use pedestals, not because
I have a thing about it, but I am always aware of the
earth, from which the sculptures grow, so to speak.'
Characteristic of the new simplicity and completeness in
his work is the design which recently won the Sainsbury
Sculpture Commission. Nothing could be more economic;
two columns gently curve into each other. The trunklike
forms refer to growth, sex. It is simple and detached, but
curiously involved and emotional—the two phalluses
might also be lovers meeting in a kiss, a poetic conceit
rooted in nature, in human experience. Even without
this interpretation they stand as precise sculptural forms.
Speaking for myself, I find it almost too simple and
fastidious. Of the newer works I prefer Siren, eight feet
tall, which I saw in plaster. Both a totem and a bell-
shape, it marks the climax of his move to fully three-
dimensional sculpture. Here again one is reminded of a
tree and a sexual organ; each component is organically
complete, but flows easily, generously, into its neighbour.
The intervals between the shapes are perfectly judged,
and not disguised; in some cases decorative elements act
as hyphens. The shapes are metaphors for the human
form—the bell-like skirt, the column-torso, echoes of
body curves and limbs—and plant forms, as well as
symbolic gestures. Yet despite all this structural detail,
these evocative relationships, the work is complete and
convincing. There is no suggestion of a committed point
of view. In a 'contemporary' sense Wragg is not saying
anything. 'Before, I could explain everything I did. Now
it is virtually impossible to talk about. I see things in a
much more complex way now. I want a complete state-
ment, not a fragmentary one.'
q

Siren 1965
Aluminium
Height 30 in.