Curator's Picks | Steve Winterburn: Black Panther Series

Born in Coventry in 1959, it wasn’t until 1994 that Steve Winterburn turned to the art of sculpting full-time. Since then, his unrelenting work ethic and limitless imagination have made him a real tour de force in the world of sculpture and bronze casting, and I’ve seen him reach incredible milestones as a self-taught artist.

Since 2001, he has lived in Yorkshire, where a year later he founded his own studio and foundry, Yorkshire Fine Art. Born out of a desire to understand everything about his material, Steve has become a true artisan of his craft dedicated to the highly skilled, labour-intensive process of traditional lost wax bronze casting.

Typically, sculptors of Steve’s calibre entrust the casting of their work to commercial foundries; with Steve, we at Castle Fine Art are continuously rewarded by the results that can only come from the artist himself handling every aspect from creation to completion, with his astute eye and honed instinct for form and balance.

Never one to do anything by halves, Steve has travelled extensively for the reference material that affords him a deep love, respect, and reverence for the animals he sculpts. During his travels, Steve became fascinated with the way that throughout history, animals have become synonymous with mythology.

He told me about the process of creating his new Black Panther Series, revisiting the materials, bones and teeth he collected across Africa, with great respect for both the animals and people he met.

With the connection to Marvel's Black Panther and appropriately-named 'Love', 'Power'; and 'Wisdom', Steve positions animals as the superheroes of our planet, aiming to elevate them to the position of reverence and respect they deserve.

Influenced by the architecture of Egyptian tombs, the Black Panther Series developed into something more stylised than his previous sculptures, favouring simple, clean, beautiful lines over the textured style of his previous work more in keeping with the themes of Art Deco sculpture.

Steve told me: "With historical art, it doesn’t have to be about the accuracy of the animal, we have the power to give it something more, something ancient."

The Black Panther Series is a fantastic showcase of what Steve can do, not only as a skilled sculptor and foundryman but with its striking patination and colour, the result is a compelling series I can't wait to see on display in our galleries.