Une Seconde Vie #1: Garden Museum, London

If you have visited the Museum in the last few weeks you will have noticed a sculpture in the Christopher Bradley-Hole garden. The sculpture is by British Sculptor Nick Hornby, entitled Une seconde vie #1.

Its shape is derived from a Cutout of a leaf by Henri Matisse from 1951. During the last decade of his life Henri Matisse became increasingly unwell from cancer and was physically restricted to his bedroom-studio. There he developed his now famous method of cutting out – using only white paper and gouache and a pair of scissors.

Hornby explains the inspiration behind the piece: “Matisse was too unwell to leave his room – he wanted to bring the garden indoors and so made cutout after cutout of leaves. Matisse transformed paint and paper into a world of plants, animals, figures, and shapes. One leaf cutout stood out as making a face – which I used to form this sculpture.”

Hornby’s sculptures emerge from the convergence of a postmodern historical perspective and cutting-edge digital technology. Using computer software, Hornby combines silhouettes sourced from art history to create three-dimensional works that, as the viewer moves around them, seem to take the shape of different well-known sculptures of the past.

Hornby’s use of traditional materials like bronze and corten, highlights the craftsmanship behind his works, which, while maintaining the look of a computer-generated model, are nevertheless hand-crafted. Mining the collective index of cultural history, Hornby uses technology not just to invoke potential new worlds but as a way of investigating alternative ways of seeing history.