SOPHIE RYDER

Hignell Gallery are thrilled to have installed Sophie's 'Crawling' in Berkeley Square, Mayfair.

The monumental sculpture will remain in the square for 6 months.

People always ask me 'what is your favourite piece?'
I reply 'the maquette of Crawling' as I made the maquette before the monumental.
To me it encompasses so many emotions. The lady is strong and confident and she is moving along which makes one wonder “where is she going?”
She is a bronze that I scaled up from the maquette by eye from very small, straight to very large, which is a very difficult process as normally its done in several more stages than that.

I worked on it for a long time, 16 hours a day. The first attempt collapsed on top of me in one big crash! I was a bit bruised and battered but learnt then that my structures needed to be better thought out. I had wasted a couple of months of work but gained years of experience.
Sculpture should adapt to its surroundings and be good from every angle. Crawling does all of that in my opinion and so she is a piece I am incredibly proud of.