(Entertainment-NewsWire.com, March 25, 2016 ) Lewes, Sussex -- Easter this year for the Church of St Michael and all Angels at Berwick, near Lewes, involves a special celebration as they have just installed a new bronze crucifix to replace one which was stolen.
?It was commissioned from East Grinstead-based artist David Hensel, and dedicated in a service during Lent.??For the church the cross is a symbol of our world's suffering, but rather than being a traditional image of the crucifixion, this new one is designed as an image of the risen Christ, a positive and gentle figure of Jesus with outstretched arms offering welcome and blessing.?It will hold an important place in the life of the church, and as an expressive piece of sculpture it adds to the artistic presence of the building.
Developing this work took over a year, and David says "It was a fascinating commission, finding a way to describe a resurrection image within the constraints of the cross shape, to express a sense of aliveness and a quality of inner stillness to the figure of Jesus. I grew up in a devout Christian family, and this work took over a year of meditation through sculpture to clarify for myself the essence of being Christlike as it was revealed in their lives, in order to express a vision of Jesus as both human and spiritual."?
??Berwick is unique in having a dual function: as one of a group of very fine small flint-built churches in the South Downs, and because its interior is entirely decorated with paintings by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, members of the Bloomsbury Group who lived nearby at Charleston Farmhouse.?It's worth a visit on both grounds.
About David Hensel: David Hensel's output covers many media, including sculpture in wood, stone and bronze, drawings and the jewellery for which he has been known internationally for over 30 years, in which he combines precious materials with a wide range of others, often carving semi-precious stones, wood or ivory to incorporate in pieces that then exist both as wearable jewels and pieces of personal sculpture. He employs a distinctive representational element in jewellery design, imagery of natural forms realised in natural materials.
After attending Bryanston School, Dorset, and Magdalene College, Cambridge reading Natural Sciences, he studied Fine Art at Brighton University. Since then he has worked in a variety of media, usually on a small scale, and he is known internationally for his sculptural jewellery, with pieces in the collections of the V&A, Goldsmiths'Hall and the Arts Council.
