Working mainly with hot forged steel, sculptor Eamonn Higgins creates both large scale public art and small one-off figurative pieces. Each public commission is finely attuned to its site, exploring the subtleties of relationship binding members of that community. Eamonn’s work is concerned with contrasts and with challenging perceptions of beauty. He is particularly interested in the contrast between the evidence of the fire and physical force involved in the blacksmithing techniques he uses and the elegance of the forms they create.

His first commission, the gateway sculptures for Lincoln South High Street, came directly after graduating from the University of Lincoln with a BA (Honours) in Contemporary and Decorative Crafts specialising in kiln formed glass and metal. Shortly after setting up his studio in Northern Ireland he was commissioned to create a public work celebrating the heritage of the flax industry in his home community, a deeply personal and rewarding project.

As part of an ongoing residency in the South Lough Neagh area, Eamonn is combining blacksmithing and stainless steel fabrication skills to create a work commenting on upheaval in the traditional eel fishing industry. By teaching these skills and artistic techniques to local people he hopes to empower them to create a sculpture as a group.

Meanwhile he has begun to work on small scale figurative sculptures and vessels in stainless steel, copper and brass, enjoying the freedom blacksmithing techniques allow in developing each piece organically. Eamonn has been with a lot of my recent work addressing a kind of abstracted solidarity in other words the strong but damaged masculine, running alongside this is a play with time and perspective which adds another dimension to emotional context of the work.