– Historically, and certainly from history up to the Renaissance, nearly all sculpture was painted… in the modern age, and with the volume of mass media and images that surround us, to me it seems quite natural to use colour on sculpture.

The British sculptor Sean Henry (born 1965) models his figures in clay before the are cast. Then he paints them. This artist's work has helped revive the age-old custom of polychrome, i.e. multi-colored sculpture. The tradition stems from Antiquity, when marble statues were painted in colors.

Henry's technique is striking and vivid. In public spaces, his naturalist figures are conspicuous, just as his sculptures are both lifelike and theatrical. They are reflections of ourselves and enhance our experience with life in our own world.

Sculptures such as Walking Woman are the artist's attempts to heighten our awareness of art and the nature surrounding it. The person in Walking Woman strides through the woods with purpose.

Walking Woman, 2010.

Painted bronze, 217 × 76 × 125 cm.

© Sean Henry / BONO