AWAKENING THE LIGHT: THE SCULPTURE OF TOM PALMER

In the depths of the earth, hidden from the light of day, timeless quarries unveil a world of white mineral stones, evoking a lunar geography. Once unearthed and suffused with natural light, these delicate alabaster blocks illuminate their new surroundings with a quiet, radiant energy, stirring in the viewer a profound sense of spiritual renewal. Yet, they carry the fingerprints of their age in the dark, manifesting inclusions, nuances, and imperfections that define their singular character and wide varieties.

Celebrating the arrival of the spring season, KALPA presents British artist and designer Tom Palmer's sculptural series entitled The Vault Vessels, created with the Iberian and the increasingly rare Volterra and English alabaster. These abstract sculptures enclose the natural features and intrinsic translucency of the mineral into rigorous geometric forms. A rhythmic alternation of apertures, heights, and perpendicular lines, together with an interplay of convex and concave surfaces, defines the work, while maintaining a stout presence.

“Everything in the universe, from the smallest grain of sand to the most distant galaxy, is infused with the same primordial energy and light."

Drawing inspiration from the broad art movement of Minimalism, Palmer concentrates on pure form and geometry. The artist articulates his sculptures through a rhythmic succession of multidirectional surfaces, guiding their structural expansion across both horizontal and vertical planes to draw clear aesthetic parallels with architecture.

Playing with the parameters of sculpture in a liminal space between fine art and design, Palmer's Vault Vessels series encompasses both the lightness and gravity of complex vaulted systems. Their form recalls Romanesque-Gothic religious architectural elements, such as the arching silhouettes, junctions, and the energetic upward movement, and the forms of medieval plate armor.

Inherent to Palmer's sculptures is a tension between the fragile essence of the mineral and the powerful mass of the object itself. While the material is delicate, the objects are empowered by an ancient aura, centuries of symbolism and bold, geometric strength.

Through a subtle polychromy, ranging from transparent to opaque, and more luminous whites, the Vault Vessels invite the viewer to explore the diverse physical properties of alabaster. When bathed in light, hidden veins emerge to create unexpected textures and striking patterns. Like clouds weaving across abstract pictorial surfaces, these subtle natural elements shift and transform as the light moves across the stone. Palmer enhances these properties, guiding form, function, and aesthetics to create a cohesive unity.

The limiting dimension of the raw stone determines the ultimate scale and shape of the vessels. The carving process is a continuous dialogue; as the artist works, the stone’s hidden characteristics gradually come to light. Alabaster’s soft composition and luminous transparency make it an ideal canvas for highlighting deep earth inclusions and intricate textures. Once the primary silhouette has been established with saws and grinders, Palmer shifts to a more intimate scale, shaping the final contours with the precision of Italian Milani and Japanese Shinto rasps.

“Alabaster exceptionally interprets our times. Because of its ambiguity, between stone-like hardness and waxy softness, transparency and opacity, alabaster allows the artist to create objects where the informal and the surreal manifest.”

Presenting a wide range of languages and materials, such as carved wood, alabaster and pewter, Tom Palmer's (1983) corpus of work includes wall art pieces, designed furniture and objects, sculptures and panels. His creative research is overall informed by Medieval and Renaissance European culture and iconography, as well as by Japanese art and philosophy. 

The artist began his career in 2013 and developed artworks and objects for many commissioned projects, from small to large scales, for both private and industry clients. Palmer is included in the prestigious Homo Faber Guide of Craftsmanship compiled by the Michelangelo Foundation of Venice, and presented his Vault Vessel series both in 2022 and 2026. His work has also been selected by QEST, for exhibitions and press coverage.

C R E D I T S :

Photography of Tom Palmer's sculptures and creative process: Courtesy of the Artist 

Photography of Tom Palmer's sculptures at KALPA: photos by Pui Yi Tam @puipuiphoto

Quotes: Stephen Ellcock, Gillo Dorfles

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