"Ken Smith is a sculptor of the soul, His highly original work unites a rare sensitivity to the intuitive simplicity of forms with a wonderful depth of feeling. The images created by Ken are at once beautiful, elegant and inspiring. Whether these images sit in the garden or the living room, they bring a sense of meaning, a sense of the sacred in life."
Satish Kumar - Editor Emeritus, Resurgence & Ecologist
"The compulsion to speak in stone came to me in my early twenties. I was born in Manchester in 1944 and at seventeen took up an apprenticeship as a carpenter/joiner, during the course of which I learnt respect for tools and natural materials. At the age of twenty, unsure of myself and searching for a sense of inner direction. I went to live in a Friary. I stayed for two years, living and mixing with the brothers. Whilst there I studied sculpture at a local technical college, I must have shown some promise as the tutor suggested I contact Henry Moore. I duly wrote to him, enclosing photographs of my work, in vain hope he would accept me as an apprentice. He kindly replied, was very complimentary about my work, recommending I apply to the Slade School of Art. The Professor of Sculpture, Reg Butler offered me a place, but instead, I attended a one-year foundation course at Walthamstow College of Art and began to develop my own identity as a sculptor, whilst exhibiting at the Royal Academy and provincial galleries. On reflection, not accepting the place at the Slade, was the best decision as I could develop on my own and get my own handwriting.
I went on to gain a Fine Arts Degree at Bristol School of Art developing my etching skills and experimented with various types of material. On leaving Bristol, with advice from sculptor Willie Soukop RA 'to go my own way' as it was clear to him, I had found my own signature in sculpture. I have held onto his words for the past forty years.
The material I most enjoy working with is Polyphant, blue -grey in colour and quarried in Devon. It is a soft stone, also known as English soapstone and is reasonably easy to carve, and with many hours of polishing, a beautiful lustre can be achieved. Motivation comes from family (married, with two sons), the closeness of it and the suffering of various minorities, ethnic, social, etc. I am also driven in the search to fulfil my spirituality in sculpture.
I have continued to develop my style, where the human form is always prominent, although it is not always obvious. My career has seen successful exhibitions, mainly in London and Spain. I still visit Spain and work on commissions there, the largest sculpture I have made to date, 6,000 kg in marble is placed at Reads Hotel, Santa Maria, Mallorca. Another commission is a marble sculpture approximately 8,000 kg, standing 2.5m high. There is also a 2,500 kg marble sculpture placed in private grounds in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
During the years I have found my own way of expressing myself through the stone I carve. My life, one could say, is 'written in stone'. "
Ken Smith