NICOLA GODDEN

Nicola writes in her biography: "As a child I used to draw avidly until the day someone gave me some clay! I obtained a degree in sculpture and have had a working studio ever since. My first job was with Madame Tussauds and my first commission, which came through the landscape garden designer Roddy Llewellyn, was a life size girl for one of his gardens. I have been exhibiting and selling work through galleries mainly in London and Ireland ever since.

Over the years I have done a number of commissions for property companies including Berkeley Homes who, along with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), commissioned me to produce the seven foot statue of the late Sir Peter Scott with two Bewick Swans for the wetlands centre at Barnes in London , this was unveiled by David Attenborough in 2000 .

My work: In recent years a lot of my work has been derived from found objects such as flint, coral and bone. Some work is more obviously inspired in this was than others. Eve I and III, in particular, are almost copies of the original piece of flint that I found, with some alterations to make the human resemblance clearer. Searching for the object is an exciting process in itself and I have had to spend many hours at West Wittering beach just looking for them.

The majority of my work conveys human feelings and expressions without actually being realistic human forms. This is where the challenge of work lies for me. Occasionally I take on portrait commissions and enjoy working with a precision and accuracy that contrasts with the freedom of expression that I like to use on my more abstracted work.

I am always changing my work and experimenting with different ways of expression- it is interesting and challenging for me and stops my work feeling stagnant or repetitive."

E-mail: info@hayhillgallery.com