YORK sculptor Stan Sandig has been invited to show his work in stone in the unique setting of the Portico Library and Gallery in Manchester.

His sculptures will be on display alongside the paintings of Pippa Gatty in the Paramender show in the elegant, early 19th century Grade II listed building, in Mosley Street, from August 18.

Stan, who grew up in South Africa and moved to London at 13, came to sculpture as a mature student and now works exclusively in stone, having experimented with plaster, clay and a variety of synthetic materials.

He was tutored at York College by a sculptor who had worked with Peter Randall Page; the tutor spent time with each student helping them to develop their particular talent, and so Stan’s love of stone developed.

"It doesn’t distort, and different finishes can be achieved," he says. "I particularly enjoy working in Polyphant stone, which in its natural state is uniformly dark grey, but when polished is glossy black.”

Stan now works from a small studio in a community project in York. "That's where I chisel away each day, very happily, with plenty of natural light," he says. "My fellow artists paint, but they never complain about the dust and noise and each day I inhabit a world that is new to me.”

Stan’s interest as a sculptor is in forming planes in opposition to one another, facets that are not in harmony but present themselves in different ways, with different vanishing points. "The individual shapes can in themselves be interesting and must blend and form into one cohesive sculpture," he says. "Then there is the challenge of using different finishes to accentuate the different aspects of the work."

York Press:

White Shard, by Stan Sandig

At present, Stan is particularly interested in cubism and has studied work by Lipschitz and Archipenko. "From childhood I was fascinated by cars, not the mechanics or the speed, but the appearance," he says. "As a young boy I admired the body shape of the late 1950s'Citroen DS saloon and later the E Type Jaguar. My ambition was to join Ford as an apprentice, but although that didn’t happen, I remained interested in three-dimensional form and began to observe sculpture.”

After moving north in 1987, Stan frequently visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, enjoying seeing both the permanent collection and the diverse work of contemporary sculptors. A birthday present of a sculpting course at YSP then made him think more seriously about art.

“Working outside, close to Barbara Hepworth’s The Family Of Man, using only a mallet and chisel I made an impact on a piece of stone and the experience was dramatic. This was a new experience and when the tutor encouraged me to continue developing my skills, I recognised I had become a sculptor," he says.

"I sought experience with other sculptors, skilled and inspirational people who were generous with their advice and encouragement and from each of them I learnt something different. From an African artist, I learnt how to reduce a head to its core features. From an artist who specialised in animal sculpture, an understanding of the importance of curves. In Spain, while working with a Dutch sculptor, I began to understand proportion and coherence and develop a love of abstract art.”

Stan's starting point for each sculpture is a visit to a quarry or a stone mason’s yard. Sometimes a piece can be found that inspires. On other occasions, he has stone cut to form a uniform shape which has then to be developed from the start with no pre-conceived ideas, and in many ways he likes that best. He sometimes draws in advance but essentially is a direct carver who lets the stone guide him. Occasionally, he makes a maquette, but seldom follows it precisely.

The latest results can be seen in the Portico Library, Manchester, from August 18 to September 15, 9.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, and 11am to 3pm on Saturdays. Entry is free.