Wells Tempest

Charity: Shelter

Wells Tempest (b. 1972) is a self-taught British sculptor whose enigmatic wood and bronze sculptures are influenced by nature, ancient cultures and mythology, particularly Egyptian and Meso-American. Geometry and mathematic formulae are recurrent throughout his work, making use of naturally occuring geometric forms, vortices and the Fibonacci sequence. Modern influences include Bauhaus and Art Deco design and architecture and artists such as M.C Escher, Henry Moore and Constantin Brancusi.

His present collection, Aegyptiana, is comprised of various representations of deities and primal elements from ancient Egyptian mythology. One aspect of many ancient cultures is the depiction of deities as zoomorphic figures: human bodies with animal or insect features, usually heads. Thoth, the scribe god of learning is always depicted with the head of an Ibis, and Wadjet, the guardian goddess appears as a seated woman with the head of a lioness or as a rearing cobra; both deities have inspired pieces in the collection.

Tempest’s short film, Samuel Meeks, an homage to the British Hammer horror films, was shown at various festivals and was lauded for its production design, cinematography and atmospheric quality. This was followed by another short film, An Imperfect Collector, which aired at the Lund Film Festival in Sweden. After experimenting with silk screen printing, etching and lithography, he took up sculpture in 2016, learning various techniques in wood and stone carving.

Education

London International Film School

London School of Printing