Awards Article published in the June 1999 issue of Garden and Home Everywhere you go in the Cape these days you are likely to come across works of art by Conrad Hicks. Don't expect some fine art piece sitting on a pedestal with a plaque. Conrad's creative genius is displayed on front gates, banisters, light fittings, railings and even garden furniture. Strongly influenced by the American, Albert Paley, and by the decorative arts of the 1920's and 1930's, in particular the organic and florid style of the art nouveau, Conrad is leading a revival of the ancient craft of blacksmithing. He has undertaken some major public commissions including the wonderful gates at Kirstenbosch, railings and light fittings at the refurbished Gardens Centre and numerous private domestic commissions. To call Conrad Hicks a blacksmith would be something of a misnomer because he is truly a sculptor in iron and abhors the idea of being thought of as 'ye olde craftsman'. "Most people think of blacksmithing as something to do with horses and pub craft. The methods might have been around for ages, but I really try to avoid the historic aspect," he says firmly. “I'm not trying to make things look old, putting dings in here and there. That would be theatre." Conrad majored in sculpture at the Cape Technikon for his fine arts course. "I really didn't quite know what I wanted to do, so I did art and then went into something that was even less useful, sculpture." And like any artist, his route to success was not easy. When he graduated, the only work he could find was on the fishing boats at Kalk Bay. Later he joined Jan Corewijn who was doing restoration work at the Castle. All this time Conrad was keeping one step ahead of the draft. "Funny thing is that while the MP's were looking for me I was working right under their noses at the Castle," he says. Eventually things got too hot, and Conrad went to England to work for a while. He was naturally drawn back to historical restoration. This was a vast and varied field in a country with such a long history. One day he'd be sculpting a finger replacement for a statue, the next, doing paint effects at the Royal Academy. "I really got a feeling for the old craftsmen," he says. "I learnt their ‘handwriting as it were. I came to recognize their tool marks. I'd work on a mural and then some time later while working on another mural I'd recognize the brush strokes of the same artist. Of course we never knew who these people were. They never signed their work." He returned to the Cape to work for Jan again, but with the change of government the restoration was stopped. Gradually other private commissions started to come in. In 1991 he set up his first forge at Montebello Design Studio, and then four years ago, moved out to premises at Observatory on the main road. "Believe me, it was a real struggle," he said. “Sometimes I owed more than I was earning, but slowly I was able to buy more equipment and employ better staff. “I bought an old 1904 power hammer which I restored and got into working order. As an exercise in order to learn how to use it, I took 100 pieces of steel and made 10 figures for 10 successive days. I later exhibited these in Grahamstown. "To watch Conrad working is to watch a man who loves his material. He bends and shapes the red hot metal with consumate skill. “Iron is so direct," he says. More direct even than clay, because clay you have to swish about and then put in a kiln. With iron you have to work quickly and then it's done. You have to work with steel. You can't impose your own ideas on it. It teaches you to be patient, to follow the rules. Once it is hot you have 30 seconds to work with it before it goes cold. You have to be intuitive, but once it's done then it stays there forever." Steel is flexible yet incredibly strong. Where it all starts is at the method of joining. "What killed blacksmithing," Conrad says, "is the invention, about 40 years ago, of the arc welder 'the devil's machine' - because it enabled one to glue all sorts of bits and pieces together and it gave rise to very bad design, because the form did not follow the function. "Previously, even huge constructions, such as bridges, had to be riveted together. The huge steel mills of the modern age have flooded the market with a wide variety of cheap steel. Today, steel products are mass-marketed in standard shapes, quickly and cheaply welded together for the now only too familiar items for the home and garden – the trellis security doors, the automatic garden gates and so on. The Industrial Revolution in Britain saw a great change in steel and iron manufacture. The rolling mills were able to produce many different shapes. Previously a blacksmith had to make his own shapes. “I don't use a welding machine,” says Conrad. “I weld things in the fire. Strangely, old steel is easier to stick together, more malleable and more resistant to weather. Modern steel simply rusts away." Much of Conrad's work, as with the artists of the Art Nouveau period, is concerned with organic shapes – flowers, leaves, even sea shells. “It is far better for me to design a staircase than an architect,” says Conrad. “I understand the material and what can be done with it. Architects just work with lines. I hope to contribute to bring about a return to quality in workmanship in design.” |
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