Scala’s studio is nestled among the horses and their stables on his property in County Carlow Ireland.. This emersion with his horses has served as the basis for many of his sculptures including the first one he completed, Prancing Horse I (2014) where the animal playfully springs into the air, a scene Scala is very familiar with from working each day alongside them. Similarly, Work Horse (2014) was inspired by the working horse championships in Ireland. Scala captures the intense force of the horse moving forwards, muscles taught, devoting all its strength into forging ahead.
There is an inherent sense of motion and vibrancy in each work despite being still objects. Scala’s sculptures recall Umberto Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity into Space (1913) where the form seems to propel itself into space. Similarly, Scala’s sculptures dynamically occupy space and capture a fleeting moment in the flow of movement.
Due to Scala’s severe dyslexia he learns best through doing. He begins his creative process with images and it is the synthesis of intense observation and molding the materials in front of him that he begins to create. Scala creates a wire armature and then applies French wax to the framework slowly building up the mass of each sculpture. It is this application of wax which gives each work such a strong sense of tactility. Once the form is complete it is sent the foundry to be cast in bronze .
Mim Scala first began gaining recognition as a Teddy Boy in Chelsea in the 1960’s and sustained his notoriety through his successful careers as a theatrical agent, producer, music promoter and author, working with some of the most influential actors and musicians in recent decades. Scala moved to Ireland in 1986 where he began to earnestly revisit painting and fine art for the first time since attending art school in his youth. Since then he has explored a number of artistic pursuits, the most recent being sculpture. Early collectors of his work include Viscount Cowdray , Marianne Faithfull. Sir John Hurt, Jonathan Yeo, the Eleven Gallery Emily Hanbro
There is an inherent sense of motion and vibrancy in each work despite being still objects. Scala’s sculptures recall Umberto Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity into Space (1913) where the form seems to propel itself into space. Similarly, Scala’s sculptures dynamically occupy space and capture a fleeting moment in the flow of movement.
Due to Scala’s severe dyslexia he learns best through doing. He begins his creative process with images and it is the synthesis of intense observation and molding the materials in front of him that he begins to create. Scala creates a wire armature and then applies French wax to the framework slowly building up the mass of each sculpture. It is this application of wax which gives each work such a strong sense of tactility. Once the form is complete it is sent the foundry to be cast in bronze .
Mim Scala first began gaining recognition as a Teddy Boy in Chelsea in the 1960’s and sustained his notoriety through his successful careers as a theatrical agent, producer, music promoter and author, working with some of the most influential actors and musicians in recent decades. Scala moved to Ireland in 1986 where he began to earnestly revisit painting and fine art for the first time since attending art school in his youth. Since then he has explored a number of artistic pursuits, the most recent being sculpture. Early collectors of his work include Viscount Cowdray , Marianne Faithfull. Sir John Hurt, Jonathan Yeo, the Eleven Gallery Emily Hanbro
The Private view at the Eleven Gallery