Oliver Horsman Art

“Micro-surfaces” explores how bodies diffuse, interact, and merge with each other at the smallest scale – like microscopic waves meeting and mingling in space. The series investigates these intimate moments where forces converge, creating patterns that echo throughout nature, from micro quantum interactions to the macro entwangled embrace of loved ones.

Origins: Seeing Energy

The inspiration struck one Saturday morning when I fell witness to a wonderfully intimate moment: my wife and 10-year-old son in a tender embrace lying peacefully intertwined side by side, encapsulated, wrapped, effortlessly comfortable, snoozing as one. Their intertwined form, sparked my imagination, what does this energy they share look like, how does it mingle as one?

This thought now entangled with my own form couldn’t leave my thoughts, and over the next few hours this vision gained enough clarity to render it pencil on paper in my sketch book.

This drawing was an important step and only got me more excited in the possibilities and scope of this idea. So I plugged in my makeshift plasticine warming box and cut a plinth – keen to get cracking. This initial piece was create in one sitting over several hours the sum of which I couldn’t say, it was a wonderful engaged flowful period of time. What I had in my head, the scale, the undulations, the mingling of forms coming together converged as I had imagined they might.

I was very happy with how the sculpture had taken shape, how the scale of the waves sit with the scale of the whole. However, I had initially imagined that the forms would be more delicate in appearance, more fleeting, more motionful, perturbing further from the main body, increasingly mingled to increasingly fragile ends. This however as I knew when starting isn’t possible with plasticine knowing I could only take the vision so far and needed a new material to take the idea onwards.

Process: Sculpting Interaction

Fascinated by these organic structures, I deepened my exploration using white porcelain. This gave me much more control over the curving shapes, over multiple visits pushing the forms ever more entangled. Knowing that these more delicate ends when fired would hold up beautifully.

This modelling process mirrors the very interactions I’m studying – each pass over the sculpture simultaneously pushing and pulling the clay, with every touch building upon and responding to what came before. The surface patterns evolve naturally, like drop of ink in water, ripples or windswept patterns on a beach, creating complexity, a new form for light and shadow emerges.

Excited to show my progress with this new series over the Christmas, one piece “lost to gravity” (pictured above) was unfortunately lost to gravity. This delicate unfired white porcelain work exemplified the series. It was ~15x15x5cm and was an excellent first attempt.

Availability: Bringing the Works Home

I currently have 3 pieces in progress. These new works will be fired, framed, and available for purchase in my shop.

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