Collections

Hat

Sculptor: Brotherston, William, RSA · b. 1943

Hat

"The sculpture was made in 1986. I modelled it in clay and incorporated bits of/ leaf and twig into the surface. I then cast it into wax for casting…

"The sculpture was made in 1986. I modelled it in clay and incorporated bits of/ leaf and twig into the surface. I then cast it into wax for casting into bronze and/ at that point I think i worked some more in wax and may have added more/ organic bits and pieces. I then cast it into bronze using an investment mould,/ and it turned out without any faults...I patinated the/ sculpture green though not initially and I think I may have exhibited it once/ unpatinated (a matt brown, as cast, colour) in ? 1986, in a Festival exhibition/ arranged by Richard Demarco at George Heriot's School (where it was sited on/ the ground in the centre of the quadrangle)...the sculpture was formerly called "Hat (for Joseph Beuys)"...because of its resemblance to the hat that/ Joseph Beuys habitually wore. Indeed at first the sculpture had a small antenna/ like form on the front of the crown of the hat, made from a cast of a twig, referring/ to the artistic - shamanistic function of Bueys' hat. But fairly soon I removed the/ antenna, and then simplified the title to "Hat", and I think got back more to my/ original purposes in making the sculpture which was not really anything to do with Beuys./ The model for the hat was one that had belonged to my father...It also fitted into/ an interest in making sculptures of hollow subject matter, which has continued/ until now, such as boxes (e.g. "Crown" 1984, "Helm" 1988) These sculptures, being bronze/ casts are actually hollow even if this cannot be seen and they look quite solid./ At one point soon after I had made the "Hat" sculpture I considered showing it/ upside down so that the viewer would look down into the inside and be fully/ aware of its depth and hollowness. My interest in working on the surfaces of a/ sculpture is also clear in this sculpture as in most of my other work: an effect of / the worked surfaces is to emphasise the invented and abstract qualities of the/ sculptures, inspite of the use or significance of subject matter." letter from Brotherston to Collections Assistant of 2006-11-08 in Brotherston's file.

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