Leo Loomans

“Constructing in welded steel is for me a means of drawing out, expressing and reflecting on ideas, to the best of my ability, into clear, articulate and resonant sculptural form. I find it a highly interactive -and occasionally deeply satisfying- process, both physically and mentally.”

Over three decades, Leo Loomans has been developing and refining a language in steel that articulates a personal response to the world that would be inexpressible by any other means. Unbound by grammatical conventions or limited by vocabulary, the artist speaks to the viewer in a multi-dimensional language about time, memory, relationships, inviting us to join the conversation with eyes, hearts and minds open.

But before the sculpture can speak, it spits and stutters. Watching the artist in the studio, you see him stalking the work in progress, making circles, leaning in close and moving away. This energetic construction period involves the continuous building up of the form and taking away, cutting, bending, folding and grinding until every line and every shape speaks coherently. From a distance, it resembles something between a dance and a battle.

Loomans shares the story of his process through the scars that remain visible on the surface of his sculptures. Here we find a history of cuts and tack welds that reveal the changes made, alongside the solid welds that declare a final commitment, left rough and unpolished.

Leo Loomans: On the In-breath, 2018, retrieved from https://www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Leo-Loomans--On-the-In-breath/AE1AEAE26605A293