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InspirationArt & Culture

Grace Wilson's brilliant life-like sculptures of 'strong and solid' characters in Edinburgh

When artist Grace Wilson moved back to Edinburgh last year, she realised she had no friends left in her home city. To reacquaint herself with the Scottish capital, she spent many evening wandering its streets – a habit that soon inspired a new body of work.

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All images courtesy of Grace Wilson

All images courtesy of Grace Wilson

This set of clay sculptures is inspired by the people she saw during those walks. "I've always enjoyed drawing or sketching people, noting little details on people like wrinkled skin or particular hairstyles say, and I sometimes make notes of outfits I like on people," Wilson tells Creative Boom.

"I find putting these observations into clay and creating characters from these notes really satisfying. It could be either a person I've captured in their entirety or a mishmash of details I've drawn. I enjoy sculpting quite strong, solid and characterful women most of all."

Wilson also creates drawings and comics too, Saving Grace being one notable piece that received widespread acclaim.

She adds: "I feel there's a nice crossover between my drawing and making worlds. I enjoy inputting quite a repetitive pattern or detail, and this in fun in both drawing and clay. Working at the scale I do suits me, as I've always loved miniature things and tiny versions of things in real life. I've always really been into folkcraft and handicraft, embroidery and naive sculptures. I love when things feel handmade with love, and you can see the making in the final work."

Ceramic sculpture by Grace Wilson of an older woman with white hair and glasses wearing a red quilted coat and holding a black handbag
Clay sculpture of a figure wearing a pale blue hooded jacket and navy striped apron over pale blue trousers, with white socks and shoes
Ceramic figurine of a man wearing a navy cap and jacket with patterned sleeves, yellow and red patterned trousers, and black shoes, sculpted by Grace Wilson
Ceramic sculpture by Grace Wilson of an elderly woman with white hair wearing a red jacket, with her hand raised to her head
Ceramic figure of an elderly woman with white hair wearing a quilted blue jacket and navy trousers, holding a red and white tartan shopping bag
Ceramic sculpture by Grace Wilson of a woman with styled grey hair and red lips, wearing a pink textured coat and check trousers, holding a patterned bag
Clay sculpture by Grace Wilson of a woman with yellow hair wearing a blue patterned garment, looking upward with hand raised to her neck
Clay sculpture of an older woman with grey hair and glasses, wearing a beige quilted coat and holding a red heart
Handmade clay sculpture of a figure wearing a teal patterned coat with a red scarf, holding a white cloth bag, created by Grace Wilson
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