An artist and independent scholar Andrew  specialises in the research of renaissance bronzes. His particular approach to making sculpture and exploring the nature of materials is influenced by historic and archaeological study. His studio in Devon is dedicated to art practice, research and education.  

Andrew’s sculpture stems from a figurative tradition, influenced by classical and renaissance sculpture. He casts his own work in bronze and this engagement with the casting process enables creative interception at any stage, leading to a lively exploration of the making of sculpture.  His manner is spontaneous, experimental and focused.  

Ongoing research is at the core of Andrew’s art, historical and technical practice and he continues to  provide consultancy in sculptural research and reconstruction analysis for museums, educational institutions and art/archaeology TV documentaries, etc.  Recent projects include the making of didactics and handling objects for the V&A Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Royal Academy of Art.  Andrew is also part of a visiting lecturer programme at Cambridge University.  He also runs studio based courses; these have involved ‘contemporary techniques of bronze cast sculpture' and for curators and conservators ‘the interpretation of archaeological relics', and ‘the making of high renaissance masterpieces’.

Andrew Lacey's career has followed two strong but parallel paths: that of artist specialising in the creation of his own bronze sculpture, the other as an independent scholar studying the analysis, facture and reconstruction of ancient and historical bronze sculptures.

As an artist he has focused on the figurative traditions, producing both human and equestrian forms, often fragmentary in nature, spontaneous, experimental and highly focused. The figures are not meant as representation of the form, but instead as a way of searching for the underlying poetics or energy of a subject. He casts all his own work in bronze; this engagement with the casting process enables creative interception at any stage in the process and leads to a lively exploration in his sculpture. This can be seen most expressively in the surface treatment of the metal and the patinas used to colour and transform the bronze. 

His work as an independent scholar is a creative collaboration between conservators, historians, makers and curators. By examining the data retrieved from analysis of the bronze and combining that with its historical background Andrew explores possibilities of hypothetical facture often by a process of experimental/experiential reconstruction. In this way he has discovered new layers of knowledge about the techniques and materials used in the past, but more importantly gained a greater depth of empathy towards the earlier artists and makers.

Exhibitions

Stafford Gallery at Wimbledon Fine Art, Wimbledon Village SW19 2014

Stafford Gallery at Wimbledon Fine Art, Wimbledon Village SW19 2012.

McMaster Tims Contemporary Art Exhibition, Dover St, London - October 2010

Dartington Cider Press Centre 2010

McMaster Tims Contemporary Art collection 2010

Dartington Hall Gardens 2009-2010

Thompson's Marylebone 2006-2009

White Space 2007

Dartington Cider Press Centre 2004-2008

Delamore 2005-2006

Mc Hardy Coombs 2006

Education

MSc Archaeometallurgy, UCL 97-99

Chemical Science for Museum Conservation, Hammersmith and City 96-97

HND Graphic Design, Dunstable College 88-90

Diploma, Graphic design, Ware College of Art 86-88

Lectures

V&A

Cambridge University

Plymouth College of Art and Design

UCL

Museum Projects

V&A Museum - Commissioned for several projects to produce replicas and handling objects for the new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries 2008-2009 www.vam.ac.uk

Henry Moore Institute - ‘Bronze, the power of life and death‘, Conference Nov 2005. www.henry-moore-fdn.co.uk

V&A Museum - ‘The making of Mars’, didactic and video, and ‘Renaissance horse’ currently on display at the Gilbert Bayes Gallery. www.vam.ac.uk

Fitzwilliam Museum - Didactics of two bronze figures describing the indirect and direct methods of casting. www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam - Didactic of ‘The Juggler’ after Adrian d’Vries. www.rijksmuseum.nl

American Centre for Oriental Research, Amman - Bronze Archimedes Screw after King Sennacherib’s (681-704) cunneform description. Cast in the Jordanian desert. acor@go.com.jo

International Documentaries

Machines Time Forgot – ‘The Fireship’.Contributing archaeometallurgist and engineer. Filmed in England and Turkey and Malta, for Channel 4. Broadcast July 2003.

Secrets of the Ancients - ‘The Hanging Gardens of Babylon’. Contributing archaeometallurgist and engineer. Filmed in the Jordanian desert March-April 99, for the BBC, and televised in the United Kingdom and America.

The life of Adrian d’Vries - ‘The Hero’s Work’. Contributing archaeometallurgist and sculptor. Filmed at AMTeC ,1998 for the Rijks Museum and Netherlands TV, and televised in the Netherlands, Sweden, America and the United Kingdom.

National Programmes

Meet The Ancestors - ‘Death of a Maiden’ Contributing archaeometallurgist. Filmed at AMTeC. November 99. Channel 4.

Various contributions on Time Team for Channel 4 from 1999 to the present including:

* ‘Yaverland Manor Farm’. Contributing archaeometallurgist.

* ‘Alveston Cave’. Contributing archaeometallurist. Filmed in South Gloucestershire.

* ‘The Timber Circle Project’. Contributing archaeometallurgist. Filmed in Sussex woods.

Publications

'Les Monnayages Cuivreux de l’Antique: Etude des Techniques de Fabrication.' C.Sarthra, D.Griffths, M.F.Guerra, A.G.Lacey, P.Northover. Featured in Colloque D’Archaeometrie 99 Avec une seance thermatique: Archaeologie alpine et Archaeometrie. Lyon, France.

'Neo-Assyian Textual Evidence for Bronzeworking Technologies: Kings Ashurbanipal to Sennacherib.' S.Dalley, J.Oleson, A.G.Lacey. Oxford (forthcoming).

'Greek Fire, Revisited. The reconstruction of the Greek fire war ships of the Byzantine Period.' J. Haldon, A. Lacey, C. Hewes