Candleholder (Candelero) Cut Tin 1940

This "Candleholder" was made in cut tin by Hal Blakeley sometime between 1855 and 1995. Think of the labour involved! There’s a great pleasure in craft, isn’t there? I like the simple geometry here, the symmetry, and the radial design. The little metal studs give it an unexpectedly decorative quality. I imagine Blakeley carefully cutting and shaping the tin, attaching each stud one by one, and thinking, "Yes, that’s exactly where it needs to go!". What was it like to make this? It reminds me of my own studio practice. It’s a bit like improvisational dancing, where you have a general idea but you discover a specific form along the way. You start with the material, in this case the tin, and respond to the specific qualities of it. Every movement, every cut or placement, is a reaction to what’s already there. It’s an ongoing conversation between the artist and the material. And in this conversation, new ideas emerge, new possibilities become visible, and old certainties get transformed into new questions.