Ama Menec – Artist’s Statement

Thorough my life I have pursued my twin loves of natural and ancient history, and spent my teens shuttling between the Museums of Anthropology, Archaeology and Zoology in Cambridge. My natural history sculptures focus primarily on endangered British animals, and those that have made a comeback such as the Buzzard, Red Kite, Wild Boar, Raven and Moose.
I am also influenced by early 20th century stone carving, particularly Art Deco, the qualities of line and use of negative spaces. After more than 30 years as a ceramicist I am now moving permanently into foundry bronze. This harder and more resilient material liberates the form from gravity and so widens my creative horizons. By exploring the chemistry of bronze patination, I can also achieve all the colour possibilities previously only available in ceramics.
One of my sculptures Hypnia was inspired by the bronze head of Hypnos the Greek God of sleep in the British Museum, with my larger version sculpted in clay, and then via 3D printing, reduced down to be cast in bronze, coming full circle back to a life sized bronze. Predominantly my current work is an exploration of British wildlife, in full three dimensions in foundry bronze.

My Buzzard and Red Kite sculptures are of life sized female birds to help the viewer appreciate the scale and presence of the real animal. My present projects are of a mantling Barn Owl, a Kingfisher in a threat display, a stretching and yawning fox and a twisting Badger, again to be cast in bronze. I am working alongside the Barn Owl Trust, the Badger Trust and Secret Wold Wildlife Rescue with these projects and I hope to work closely with similar conservation charities on future projects.

For Secret World I am working on a Badger Trophic Cascade, an ambitious project which describes in 3D what happens to the wider ecosystem after widespread badger culling, and will use the life sized twisting badger as its base, with the species you loose flooding out of its back in a big spiral tide, and the two species that increase rising up out of the badgers shoulders. I have been working in Ceramics since the early 80’s, gained my Art Foundation in Cambridge in 1984 and have been sculpting full time at Coombe Park since 2001. I have had a varied career including time spent as potters’ assistant to Rupert Andrews in Cambridge and as a production thrower for David White in West Yorkshire.

I gained my Applied Arts B.A. from the University of Derby in 1996. I exhibit regularly mostly in the South East and South West of the UK, including the Hampton Court Flower Show, Grand Designs Live, the British Museum, Mythic Sculpture Garden, Borde Hill Gardens, Savill Gardens, Delamore Sculpture Garden, the Henley Festival, Windsor Contemporary Art Fair, the Landmark Art Fair, a one woman show at the Turrill Sculpture Garden Oxford, the Natural History Museum Oxford and the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

This summer I have exhibited at the Mall Gallery London and La Galleria in Pall Mall, London, and won two awards for my bronzes. Studio Address: Unit 7, Coombe Park Craft Studios, Ashprington, Totnes, Devon, UK, TQ9 7DY. Mobile: 07943 803551 Website: www.amamenec-sculpture.co.uk Ama Menec Artists C.V. Qualifications 1983-4 Art Foundation, C.C.A.T., Cambridge 1993-96 BA (Hons) Applied Arts (2:1), University of Derby 1981-83 Potters assistant to Rupert Andrews, Cambridge 1992-3 Potters assistant to David White, Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire 2010 Exhibitions New Fired Earth, Birdwood House, Totnes, Devon. Artspace 2010 Barn Galleries, Henley-on-Thames.
Mythic Garden Sculpture Exhibition, Chagford, Devon.
Battersea Contemporary Art Fair, Battersea Arts Centre, London.
Henley Festival, Henley-On-Thames, Oxon. Landmark Art Fair, Teddington, Middlesex.
South West Contemporary Art Fair, Civic Hall, Totnes, Devon.
Windsor Contemporary Art Fair, Royal Windsor Racecourse, Windsor. Mid Winter Fire II, Birdwood House,
Totnes, Devon. 2011 Exhibitions ‘Flocked’, Cider Press Centre, Dartington,
Totnes, Devon. Bristol Festival of Nature, The Water front, Bristol. Sculpture in the Sanctuary, Swan Sanctuary, Hill Farm Nurseries, Notts.
The Great Create Festival of the Arts, Greenway National Trust, Devon.
Mythic Garden, Stone Lane Gardens, Chagford, Devon. Landmark Art Fair, Landmark Art Centre, Teddington, Middlesex..
2012 Exhibitions Delamore Arts 2012, Delamore Estate, Cornwood, Devon.
Affordable Garden Art Exhibition, Showborough House, Twyning, Gloucestershire. 
Mythic Garden Sculpture Exhibition, Stone Farm, Chagford, Devon. Artspaces, Barn Galleries, Middle Culham Farm, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire . RHS Rosemoor Winter Sculpture Exhibition, Great Torrington, North Devon. 2 For Joy, Somerset Guild of Crafts, The Courthouse Gallery, Market Place, Somerton, Somerset. WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire. Mid-Winter Fire, Birdwood House, High Street, Totnes, Devon. 2013 Exhibitions RHS Rosemoor Winter Sculpture Exhibition, Great Torrington, North Devon. New Members display, Somerset Guild of Crafts, The Courthouse Gallery, Market Place, Somerton, Somerset. Bradworthy Arts Festival, West Down House, Bradworthy, Nr Holsworthy, North Devon. Delamore Arts, Delamore House, Cornwood, Ivybridge, Devon Affordable Garden Art Exhibition, Showborough House, Twyning, Gloucestershire. Elegance and Form Garden Sculpture Show, Wyndcliffe Gardens, St Arvans, Near Chepstow, Monmouthshire. Devon Open Studios, Unit 2 Coombe Park, Ashprington, Totnes, Devon. RHS Rosemoor Winter Sculpture Exhibition, Great Torrington, North Devon Shaldon Zoo Wildlife Art exhibition, TAAG Gallery, Northumberland Place Teignmouth, Devon. 2014 Exhibitions RHS Rosemoor Winter Sculpture Exhibition, Great Torrington, North Devon. One woman show ’Wild and Arcane’ at the Turrill Sculpture Gardens, South Parade Oxford. Sculpture at Kingham Lodge, Kingham, Oxfordshire. TWASI at Nature In Art, Twigworth, Gloucestershire. Dittisham Art Show, Dittisham Village Hall, Devon Devon Open Studios, Unit 2 Coombe Park Studios, Ashprington, Totnes, Devon. 2015 Exhibitions Sculpture in the Vineyard, Bothy Vineyard, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Royal Academy Summer Open, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. Devon Open Studios, Unit 7 Coombe Park, Ashprington, Totnes, Devon. Royal Scottish Academy Open, The Mound, Edinburgh, Scotland Sculptures featured in a book by Schiffer Publications ’Wildlife Art Today’ by Cindy Ann Coldiron. 2016 Exhibitions Royal Scottish Academy Open, The Mound, Edinburgh, Scotland. Tim Andrews Gallery, Darby House, Woodbury, Exeter, Devon. Society of Women Artists, Mall Galleries, The Mall, London. South West Academy, Exeter Castle, Exeter, Devon. Devon Open Studios, Unit 7 Coombe Park, Totnes, Devon. EWAAC, La Galleria, Pall Mall, London. Stockists Include: The Bowie Gallery, 54B High Street, Totnes, Devon. The Brownston Gallery, 36 Church Street, Modbury, Devon Devon Guild of Crafts, Riverside Mill, Bovey Tracey, Devon. Sextons Cottage National Trust Shop, Widecombe In The Moor, Devon. Awards One of 20 Devon artists selected to promote the visual arts from the region from Devon Artsculture 2007 One of 6 Devon artists to receive bursaries for emerging and re-emerging artists for Devon Open Studios 2013. Wildlife Art Society International at Nature In Art, best sculpture in show for bronze Female Red Kite 2014 Awarded the Tate St Ives Prize for bronze Female Buzzard at the Royal Scottish Academy 2015. Awarded the Brownston Gallery prize for bronze Female red Kite, South West Academy 2016. Awarded the Grand Prize for bronze Female Buzzard at East West Art Award Competition 2016 www.amamenec-sculpture.co.uk Ama Menec Sculpture Unit 7 Coombe Park Craft Studios, Ashprington, Totnes, TQ9 7DY.
My sculptures are in collections across the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Australia, France and Denmark.