Sculptor Keziah Burt sees portraiture as a form of story telling. Sitting with someone to sculpt their features by hand takes hours and Burt is fascinated by each person she finds sitting opposite her.
“The experience of a sculpture sitting feels a little like a dance, I move around them, study, play with the clay and observe. The delightful rhythm of our conversations is the music I move to.”
Incredibly skilled, Burt was the last artist commissioned to sculpt her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for the Platinum Jubilee. A bust of HRH (her royal highness) captured in bronze depicts her in ATS uniform. It is now on permanent display in The National Army Museum in Chelsea, England.
This is not the only work Burt has completed for the Royal Family. She is currently working on a bust of King Charles III as the first artist to sculpt the new king.
Using her work to support accomplished women, she reached out to The National Army Museum to commission a bust of Major General Susan Ridge, the first woman to hold the rank of Major General in the British Army. Major General Ridge was promoted to this rank in 2015. Burt sculpted her likeness in 2019 over the course of two days. This wonderful bust is now on display at N.A.M. in their research library.
Based in Bristol, England with her family, Burt is an experienced teacher and sculptor. Most of her work is done by commission, making her personal pieces highly sought after.
She creates organic abstract works while having conversations with loved ones over tea or a gin and tonic. She writes, “We listen, we talk, we laugh and all those words fall through my ears into my hands and through my fingers into the clay or wax. I make as we talk. With no plan, no intention, no idea what the outcome will be. Free flow sculpting.”
With a love for swimming, Burt has created many works inspired by water and how people move within it. “Entwined” is a limited edition bronze sculpture. She writes,
“A beautiful underwater embrace, an intimate tangle of limbs and hair. Two lovers floating in the water, oblivious to all else but eachother. A piece which has intensity yet calmness, a raw passion and still grace.”
Doing her part for the planet, a portion of Burt’s profit on each commission and sale goes to the conservation work of the Wildlife Trust or planting saplings in the National Forest.
Follow Burt on Instagram @keziahburtartist for updates on her beautiful sculptures and check out her website here to see her portfolio or reach out for a commission. Click here to see where she will be showing work in 2023.