‘Emily Williamson is an inspiring woman. She got stuff done.' So says Laury Dizengremel – another woman who's done a lot of stuff. She sees herself 'first as a sculptor, and second as a person who has lived a full life.' Former dancer, former translator, designer and sculptor teacher; mother, dog-lover, poet; photographer, songwriter, web designer...
Laury is a global citizen: she's lived in France, England and America; her mother was Dutch (raised in Indonesia), her father French (born in Japan, raised in Greece). 'Both of their backgrounds influenced my life and education tremendously.'
Right now, what preoccupies Laury Dizengremel is the 'huge under-representation of women' in sculpture. 'I would love, in the remaining part of my life, to sculpt as many women as possible. Sculpture is my passion. I can’t think of anything that rocks my boat more in any shape or form. I love working site specifically, I love responding to a commission. I really love the historical subjects. A whole new world opens up, a gradual process of arriving at the person.'
With Emily Williamson, 'there’s so much more to it than that little photograph. I want people to have an emotional response to my sculpture of Emily. I want it to have an emotional impact. I want people to be able to walk up to it, like a person, and say, "Hi there".'
Now that Emily has been patinated with blowtorch (see picture), she's on her way to Manchester.
The fascinating, complex process of a commission in bronze is revealed here in Laury's excellent 11m film. If you know nothing about sculpture, it's well worth a watch.