A Stately Conversation with Anton Smit
Courtesy of Anton Smit Sculptor
Widely revered for his overwhelming heads and monumental sculptures, evoking themes of suffering, reconciliation, glory, and sublimation, his works grace public and private collections countrywide and internationally. Anton Smit is a sculptor from South Africa. His work borders on Surrealism and is influenced by abstract expressionism.
Anton Smit’s work has been shown and lauded internationally in places as diverse as Rome and Milan, Italy, Singapore, Germany, Bonn, Amsterdam, and Cologne in art galleries, public spaces, museums such as Imibala Gallery, Uitstalling Art Gallery, National Library of Tswane, Inter Art Galerie, Omni Gallery and many more. Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu and ex-minister Pik Botha have bought some of his sculptures.
His latest project involves collaborating with Graffiti Artist Mars at Nelson Mandela Square.
I had the pleasure and honor of asking Anton about a sculptor’s most significant assets, how sculpting is poetic, and so much more.
UZOMAH: What is your creative thought process as you translate 2D to 3D?
ANTON: Intense concentration and forming of mental pictures – frequently spilling over into dreams. On many occasions, I have had vivid dreams like the Black Head with Glasses.
Urban Echoes – Collaboration between Anton Smit & Graffiti Artist Mars – Nelson Mandela Square - Sandton
U: When did you realize you were a sculptor?
A: When I was a boy of 15, I came across a book of Michelangelo and thought he was the angel Michael who came to earth to show us how to make sculptures. When I realized he was a human, I said, “If he can do it, I can do it.” I’ve been doing it ever since.
U: How do you maintain good armature?
A: I build my armatures from steel, cover them with polystyrene, carve into the polystyrene, and finalize them with beeswax
Stream of Consciousness – Anton Smit – Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens - UK Photo credit: Anne-Katrin Purkiss
U: How do you balance measuring and structural accuracy with your instinct while creating?
A: I have an exceptional eye for balance and composition. Structurally, I always make sculptures stronger than they should be.
Landscape of the Soul – An installation of 400 masks in a Subway – Anton Smit – Century City Photo credit: Century City | Lional Henshaw
U: Can you discuss your latest project, Landscape of the Soul?
A: The owners of Century City wrote out a competition for a sculpture in a subway, 33m long and 3,5m high. As I closed my eyes and visualized this blank, foreboding cavern, faces started popping out of the vast wall, large and small, of all races. They flowed past me in a rhythmic pattern like a huge soundbar. “Faces in the crowd. Petals on a wet, black bough”. - Ezra Pound
It took a year to make almost 500 masks of different sizes and a week for a team of 10 to install them.
U: What are a sculptor’s most significant assets in terms of tools?
A: His hands and his eyes – I use a wide array of tools, sticks, and old saw blades.
Crouching Angel - Anton Smit - Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens - UK Photo credit: Anne-Katrin Purkiss
U: How is creating sculpture poetic? Do you draw from poetic aspects when creating?
A: The material is a picture of the spiritual. For example - Before me floats an image, man or shade, shade more than man, more image than a shade. These words of W.B. Yeats describe my masks with holes perfectly
U: What was the inspiration behind making a sculpture park?
A: A life-long desire and ambition that I share with my wife, Roelien. We bought a piece of desert and turned it into paradise.
7m Monumental Faith – Anton Smit - Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens - UK Photo credit: Anne-Katrin Purkiss
U: When designing sculptures for the Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens exhibition, how did the flowers and plants play a role in how you made each sculpture?
A: I visited these exquisite gardens and whilst walking around, visualized a number of perfect positions for sculptures. I then pinpointed them on a map, and there it was.
U: The Age of Grace is an eight-foot-high bronze sculpture at the Grand Central Station you created to celebrate the culture of South Africa. How did you incorporate the spirit and culture of South Africa, where a different culture could celebrate also?
A: I am an African, born and bred. My being is permeated with Africa, and it comes through my fingers into my work in almost every sculpture I make.
U: How can having early access to art and learning how to make art help children and young adults be better critical thinkers and human beings?
A: Great art is as irrational as great music – it is mad with its own loveliness.
For more information about Anton’s artwork, please visit his site. You can follow him on Instagram and find him on Facebook.
