About
Senden Blackwood’s elegant, elemental works reveal the quiet transformation of form and matter. Endlessly curious about the principles of life and evolution, he draws inspiration from nature’s generative structures—pods, seeds, shells, and cocoons—evoking stillness, mystery, and organic flow. Blackwood deftly reconciles the arduous grind of stone carving with an instinct for subtlety and refinement. His sculptures appear serene yet pulse with the tension of their making—where gesture meets geology, and intuition and endurance shape the quiet beauty of natural form. Exhibiting nationally and internationally since 2007, he has received numerous awards, residencies, and public commissions.
Process lies at the heart of Blackwood’s practice. He values the setting in motion of sequential actions that gradually bring a form from the unreal into the real. Working independently, he takes great satisfaction in knowing that every part of a sculpture has been designed and made by his own hand. For Blackwood, making is as important as designing.
Over a five-year period, Blackwood pursued a long-held question: whether he could realise a large-scale, monumental stone sculpture. This undertaking involved not only carving multiple substantial elements, but also designing and engineering many of the tools and wire saws required to shape them. The project demanded endurance, trust, patience, and sustained problem-solving. Its completion marked a significant milestone in his practice. You can see the “making of susurrus” video here.
More recently, his focus has shifted toward smaller-scale works - pieces that can be conceived and made over a matter of days. This change in pace has opened a different kind of creative flow, allowing him to work in series, explore variations on a theme, and follow ideas as they evolve. He is particularly drawn to vessels and forms that sit between the sculptural and the functional, where interior space, shadow, and containment become as important as surface and form. These explorations continue to inform his ongoing body of work, including his upcoming solo exhibition Stone and Shadow, where light, line, and shadow articulate ideas of containment and interior space, inviting curiosity about use, touch, and what might be held within.