Rose Paba-Jones

Artist’s Statement
The special thing about stone sculpture is that each stone is unique, with its own
special colours, markings and form. My sculptures are never only abstract forms, they
also always have a conceptual element too. The result is a one-of-a-kind sculpture that
will last for hundreds (if not thousands!) of years and become a source of constant
contemplation and inspiration for those who look at it.

I am proud to be a successful female artist. I am particularly proud to be a female
stone sculptor, as there are so few of us that exist. In the art industry as a whole,
there is still a large amount of gender inequality – despite far more women in the UK
enrolling onto undergraduate courses in the arts, there are far more men who get
leading sector jobs and become collectors and far more male artists who gain sales,
gallery representation and who make up a far larger proportion of museum exhibition
programming. I celebrate great female artists and hope to empower women with
belief in themselves to do whatever they dream to do.

Not only is stone an incredibly beautiful material, it also has the ability to connect us
with our human nature. Its ancient history connects us with the past, its tactile quality
connects us to the present, and its longevity connects us to the future. Unfortunately,
the traditional skills of stone carving, stone masonry and letter carving are in decline,
so I am proud to continue to use and promote these skills, particularly through my
membership as a Yeoman for the Worshipful Company of Masons) and I encourage
the use of natural stone in all its forms, both functionally and artistically.

My forms develop through drawings and often a wax maquette, looking at structure;
light and shade; fluidity and balance. The work is then ready to be sculpted, the
process of which inevitably changes the work once more, when my energy transfers
onto the stone. I use a variety of tools – usually starting with an angle grinder to
remove the majority of unwanted material and then moving onto chisels and a
hammer to carve the final form and finally finishing with a mixture of machine sanding and hand polishing. It´s a physically demanding process, but also empowering and the reward of producing a 3 dimensional work of art that has come from a simple vision inside my head, is very satisfying.