We first showed work by Stephen Henderson in August 2021 - we are delighted to have some new work for our Christmas exhibition.
Stephen grew up amongst intensely artistic surroundings, the youngest of four children. He is the son of renowned photographer and pop-artist Nigel Henderson. His mother, Judith, was raised in and around the Bloomsbury Group, as a niece of Virginia Woolf. The family moved to the East Essex coast in the 1950’s, Stephen’s teenage years were spent shooting and fishing on the marshes, where he developed a keen eye for the movements and habits of wildfowl and fish. Even today, the workshop and studio at his family home looks out across those very same marshes, providing a constant source of inspiration. Stephen fashioned furniture for twenty-five years, carved and sculpted part-time. Then the studio called, craft set aside for art.
In 2009 he was awarded a residency at Cill Rialaig Arts Project in Ireland, and his work has twice been selected for inclusion win the prestigious Birds in Art exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin USA. His work has gained an impressive list of private collectors, including the Rt Hon Lord David Own amongst others, both in the UK and overseas, In recent years, much of his time has been spent working on specially commissioned pieces.
“In my work I hope in some way to capture a gesture or attitude that will resonate with the viewer in the same way as it does for me. This is nor so mjuch to do with pursuing correct anatomical detail as trying to represent my own emotional response to a chosen subject. Often I work with particular themes such as motherhood, courtship and predation, while also trying to reflect the mannerisms of individual creatures and their personalities. The result, carved out of pieces of wood and Quebec pine, is then mounted on carefully selected pieces of driftwood and natural weathered timber.”
