Barry Davies grew up in Mid Wales, where from an early age he was captivated by the beauty and perfection of nature in all its forms. His observations of the natural world taught him about the various shapes of leaves and the complex mechanisms that connect muscle to bone, enabling a rabbit’s leg to propel it forward.
As Barry’s observations became more acute, he tirelessly drew these images from memory, trying to replicate what he had seen. With a flair for art and training as a precision engineer, he started a small business in 1989 as a cabinet maker, employing the same traditional methods used by Thomas Chippendale. He introduced carving to embellish the furniture, which proved popular with clients. Barry’s carving commissions extended to a heritage shop front, carving restoration at Ripley House, Trafalgar, and Cambridge Gate, London.
Realizing the need to extend his knowledge of the traditions of sculpture, Barry studied Art History with the Open University. He was fascinated by the achievements of Phidias, who used the golden ratio to proportion his works, and by Renaissance sculptors like Donatello and Michelangelo.
Barry has sculpted portrait busts of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, and many others from solid Carrara marble blocks imported from Italy. He also sculpted a larger-than-life-size statue of the 16th-century Bishop William Morgan from Llanrhaeadr-ym-mochnant, who translated the Bible from Hebrew into Welsh, and this statue was unveiled by the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, in 2012.
Barry’s sculptures are the culmination of decades of studying human and animal anatomy, as well as classical, Renaissance, and Baroque sculpture, all while developing his own dynamic style. His works reflect a profound understanding and respect for artistic traditions combined with unique creative innovation.
