"After Xenophon" A Bas-Relief Sculpture Installation by Sandie Henderson (UK)
Inspired by the Art of Ancient Greece
(The word “bas-relief” derives from French where bas means “low” and relief means “raised work”).
I developed an interest in Ancient Greek Art many years ago, during an earlier career as a riding instructor and horse trainer. Through my interest in different training methods I discovered Xenophon’s amazing treatise “The Art of Horsemanship”. Written over twenty three centuries ago, much of the advice of this Ancient Greek military leader, philosopher and historian remains relevant to the horseman of today. His advice on training the horse was based on kindness and understanding, and I found his approach hugely inspiring.
My personal copy of “The Art of Horsemanship” (a translation from the original Ancient Greek text), contained a wealth of illustrations featuring the Horse in Classical Greek Art. These powerful images formed the basis for further exploration and research during my fine art degree studies. A memorable visit to London’s British Museum also helped to firmly establish my interest in ancient art. The famous Parthenon Frieze and the incredibly beautiful Horse of Selene made a tremendous impact, as did a number of very
dramatic Assyrian wall reliefs.
The “After Xenophon” sculpture was inspired by my immense regard for Ancient Greek Art, and particular respect for Xenophon. Consisting primarily of carved bas-relief panels, the work was conceived as an installation piece, intended for exhibition rather than sale. Swansea Museum’s 2015 Rhiannon’s Legacy Exhibition was perhaps After Xenophon’s most notable venue. A similar carved piece from the same exhibition, entitled “Xanthus” and based on one of the two immortal horses of Achilles, now forms part of the Swansea Museum permanent collection.
Initially, the various carved elements that make up the “After Xenophon” installation were placed on a base of highly polished stainless steel, creating reflected mirror images suggestive of an alternative time or space (the Ancient Greek Era in this instance). At a later stage the installation was placed on a base of black slate when the stainless steel sheet was recycled for use in the “Threatened Pollinators” installation.
Bas-relief, the lowest/shallowest form of relief, is also the simplest to execute and can be effectively used by sculpture students as an intermediary process in developing the two dimensional image into three dimensional form. Greater complexities arise when deeper reliefs are attempted (high relief), calling for a degree of ingenuity to arrange the different picture planes.
Over the generations artists have employed many different techniques to address these complexities whilst also striving to maintain sculptural integrity. “After Xenophon” is carved in expanded cement (sometimes known as aerated block), a very good and inexpensive carving medium. It is soft to carve but reliable in strength, more so than many natural stones that are prone to sudden fracture. It is the ideal carving medium for the novice sculptor, allowing for experimentation and the development of carving skills without involving huge expense.
“After Xenophon” was one of my earliest carved pieces, created very soon after graduation. At the time my carving abilities were still fairly limited and I had few specialist carving tools, hence my decision to use expanded cement for the project. Despite being a popular medium for students and inexperienced carvers, expanded cement is also widely used by more experienced sculptors at the design stage, for work that is later intended to be cut into a more valuable stone such as marble.
Soapstone and alabaster are not dissimilar in hardness to expanded cement, making them ideal natural stones for the inexperienced carver to confidently progress to, after first developing skills using expanded cement. The only none-carved piece in the “After Xenophon” installation is the horse head featured on top of the pillar. Initially modelled in plaster and given a silver/grey finish, the little head has more recently been cast into a bronze edition of 12 and entitled “Trojan”.
Sandie Henderson
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