Obituary - 'The Independent'

In a generation of distinguished British sculptors, following on in the tradition of Henry Moore, Paul Mason stood out for his continuing adherence to the traditions of stone carving in a manner that Moore would have certainly approved of, not only with regard to form, but also meaning and context.

Paul Mason, born in Bolton, Lancs in 1952, studied under a number of Royal Academicians; John 'Paddy' Paddison at Wolverhampton and Willi Soukop, in the Academy Schools themselves stand out.   His keen insistence on traditions and craft was matched with a sense of enquiry and spirited adventure in new ways of carving to keep the medium fresh.   An early break in his career came with a commission from Sir Freddie Gibberd for a piece - 'Hinge', a 5ft piece in red sandstone, to be sited outdoors in Harlow New Town, where he first found himself in the company of major post war figures in the medium, and this founded a line of enquiry on which much of his reputation is based.   Public commissions in Leeds, Nottingham, Southampton, Edinburgh, and, most notably, for Centenary Square in Sheffield followed, the latter, a complete scheme in which Mason was lead artist, a pattern of working to be copied widely in such projects across the UK.

In the mid eighties, Mason undertook a major solo exhibition entitled 'The Cutting Edge'of sculpture and associated drawings, a second strand of activity, that formed an important part of his output, that toured from his home town to Wolverhampton and Lincoln.   Exhibitions followed in a number of important venues including a period of residency at the Tate St. Ives in the mid nineties, where he was awarded a singular accolade, invited to utilise Hepworth's studio and carve a piece of stone from it, that formed a centrepiece in the resulting exhibition.   More recently he undertook a year long residency in Gloucester Cathedral where the carvings that resulted were extremely sensitive responses to the spirituality of the surroundings.   At around the same time he exhibited drawings in the Bauhaus Archiv in Berlin and in some of these works, amongst his most experimental, can be found new ideas and approaches to his thinking about form and structure.   His most recent exhibition 'Stone Landscapes - a geometry of fracture' took place in May 2005 at Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight and in his own notes Mason says "My works attempt to recognise and emulate the natural forces inherent in both carving and the geology.   There is something deeply attractive and satisfying about the sculptural processes on both scales, and the dialogue between them that occurs quite naturally within the fragment and the whole".

Strata, Granite, 6ft. x 3, sited at Tate St. Ives

In more recent years, Mason continued to produce significant outdoor works in both traditional settings at Seaham Promenade in the North East for example as well as smaller scale and more intimate works such as the series of carvings for the River Yar on the Isle of Wight.   In all these projects he focussed on simple, natural forms investing them with fresh insights and configurations.   Throughout his career his abiding passions for stone, landscape and history inform all his works and as Professor Peter Wheeler remarked in his catalogue introduction to the exhibition 'Root and Cause', the outcome of his Gloucester residency, "for Mason, his sculpture is the product of natural intentionality, that is not opposed to human intentionality, it does not contradict nature's formativity, but rather extends it".

A generous artist and an inspirational teacher he taught at the art schools in Loughborough, Staffordshire, Northumbria and Derby, working in and more recently running departments in which the spirit of enquiry and innovation went hand in hand with an understanding and respect for tradition and history.   In recognition of his contribution he was awarded the title of Professor of Sculpture at the University in Derby in 2004.

Core, Limestone, 5ft h., sited at Tate St. Ives

Through all his activities as an artist and teacher Paul Mason demonstrated an unswerving respect for the importance and primacy of the creative act and, in many of his projects he encouraged and supported others to invest their creativity with a similar passion.   This manifested itself in workshops with the visually handicapped as well as working with schoolchildren on associated activities related to his public art projects for which there are lasting legacies throughout the UK.

He is survived by his wife, Emma Talbot, herself a distinguished painter, and two young sons Zachary and Daniel, and by his son, Joseph, from his earlier marriage to the ceramicist, Susan Disley.