Stephen Nelson’s series of monumental wax and plaster works, was inspired by journeys to Venezuela.
The Tepuis, a Pemon Indian word for mountains, are mighty sandstone plateaux, which rise out of the jungle in bizarre shapes shot through with canyons and chasms. ‘My father told me about a lost word, plateaux of stone … where dinosaurs roared and plants grew to ten times their normal size. … Thirty years later, I stood before these fantastic landforms… Only through drawing and sculpture have I managed to gauge the significance of the powerful emotions that these objects have generated in me. ‘
To complement the exhibition, visitors were able to access Nelson’s Internet website which contains information and images relating to the making of Tepuis. This is a part of a portfolio of websites, Working Practices, focusing on current and forthcoming installations by British artists, supported by the Laboratory at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford.
