Hamish Mackie’s bronze wildlife sculptures capture and interpret instinctive moments of animal behaviour.
He believes passionately in close observation, often involving intense research trips; his travels in search of animals in their natural habitat have taken him from Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia to Africa, The UAE, Australia and India, as well as all over Europe. He often sculpts from life in the field, and this informs his whole approach which resonates with his love for the natural world.
Hamish works in spontaneous, often unrepeatable, fluid gestures with a confidence born from many years of mastering his craft. This assertive handling of his materials, coupled with an acute understanding of anatomy, results in strong, dynamic, ‘living’ sculpture, and his uniquely recognisable style conveys the core strength and grace of his subject.
When he gives us a leopard climbing a tree or a horse caught mid-jump, every tensed muscle and sinew is shown. Even when he sculpts animals in repose, he hints at the flickering eyelid and the pulse beneath the skin, and the sense of compressed energy and strength is palpable.
In 2015 Hamish unveiled a major public art commission of six bronze horses for Berkeley Homes Goodman Field development in London and soon after became winner of the Public Monuments and Sculptures Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture. His public sculptures bring a revolutionary energy to carefully landscaped spaces and add a flash of the wild to the inner cities. Other public commissions include Merrill Lynch, Hiscox Insurance, Barclays Bank, The National Trust, RSPCA, Woburn Abbey, Chapman University California and Gilbane Development Company, Rhode Island.
Hamish has also undertaken prestigious private and public commissions, including a bust of Sir Winston Churchill for Blenheim palace and a bronze Household Cavalry Charger which was commissioned by officers of the Household Cavalry to commemorate the Queen’s new standard. His work has been featured at the RHS Chelsea flower Show every year since 2009.
In 2016, Hamish presented his sixth Solo Show, Life in Bronze, at Mall Galleries, London to great critical acclaim.
