William Pye Water Scupture

Sources of Inspiration

The natural world is a source of inspiration for many artists, and William Pye's observations of natural forms, combined with his creative use of geometry, lie at the heart of his sculptures. Although brought up in London, Pye spent a lot of time at his family's country home in Surrey, and was constantly fascinated by the water that abounded throughout the area. He captured on camera the local ponds and pools, reflections in still water and on its rippled surfaces, he dammed streams to make cascades and recorded the way water reacted to his intervention. On his travels he would photograph water: a particular gorge in Spain, a still, deep pool on a mountaintop in Mexico and water flowing down a mountain road in Wales are only three examples from his vast photographic library. Pye has used his reference material constantly: since his stainless steel sculptures, and from the 1980s when he introduced water as a major sculptural element in his work.

  • Sources of inspiration