Alex Seton: Things you argue about over dinner

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.comRenowned sculptor Alex Seton tells us about his journey from a rural Australian upbringing to becoming a prominent artist known for politically charged marble works. He speaks about how he became fascinated with marble at a very early age, and how he was influenced by his unconventional upbringing near an historic quarry.His family spent his childhood in the Australian bush with no electricity, a sawdust toilet and no hot water. He and his three brothers studied in a small local Catholic school. Alex and Sarah met in the studios of Massimo Galleni, which has been his studio in Pietrasanta for the last 15 years, where he was finishing up The Tenderness Series. We learn how his passion for social change inspires his work and leads him to use his art to explore themes of social engagement, privacy, and identity. Alex tells about a work he did for a sculpture competition in a hotel, which caused a visceral response from viewers - revealing those who had empathy for the homeless and those who reviled them. The piece is called Unsettled. Alex’s first shows included an installation where the gallery had their leather-topped benches replaced by marble versions, which all had bum prints in the marble. So when the visitor came into an empty gallery they would think “what am I looking at?”.Alex became well known for his series of cross-legged, hooded figures with hollowed out faces from 2012, which he presented at the Hong Kong Fair, just before it became Art Basel. The hoodie seemed to him an egalitarian garment - worn as readily by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and by Martin Trayvon, the young man shot dead in Florida. Alex explains he can get obsessed with fashion items.Alex did a series of works during the pandemic, one of which one touched Sarah deeply. Proposal for a Humble Monument was inspired by how, in a place called Bathurst, convicts used to hack away and pull out big blocks of lime. Alex considered all the monuments around the world being pulled down because they reflect our shameful colonial past, and wondered what we might replace them with. He decided something more humble would be appropriate, and so the Proposal For a Humble Monument was named to honour the pain of those miners.Alex tells us how he came to name the piece Someone Died Trying To Have a Life Like Mine (2014) which pays respects to the many refugees whose lives were lost at sea trying to reach a better life.alexseton.cominstagram.com/alexseton_Massimo Galleni Studios, gallenimassimo.itSullivan + Strumpf Gallery, sullivanstrumpf.com