Joseph Hayton working on his project, Pillars Past to be erected in Pateley Bridge as part of a series of art installationss along the Way of the Roses Cycle route from Morecambe Bay to Bridlington
Joseph Hayton with his stone statues, Pillars Past, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire
Joseph Hayton created the imposing, two-metre high sculptures of a miner, a farmer and a monk as a monument to the great pillars of past industries on which this Nidderdale market town was built. The three are arranged in a circle and from a distance they appear like ancient standing stones. Joseph modelled timeless sculptures ‘Pillars Past’ on the faces of local people of similar vocations in modern day Pateley Bridge.
He created life-sized clay models, cast them in plaster of Paris, then carved the figures in local stone, using a pointing machine as a traditional three dimensional measuring system.
Joseph Hayton said:
“In this part of Yorkshire lead mining, sheep farming and Fountains Abbey dominated peoples’ lives and work. I enjoy carving heads so I created these three portraits to represent these pillars of the past. I wanted it to feel like the viewer is being stared at by three commanding figures from the past.”
