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 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.”
