Dame Elisabeth Frink, R.A. (1930-1993)

Discussing the heads from this period, created during her time in the Cévennes region of France, Stephen Gardiner comments (The Official Biography of Elisabeth Frink, London, 1998, p. 158) 'There was the new attention to detail in the Heads which contrasted with the total elmination of it in Mirage. When studied, it will be found that the Heads have in each case a decidedly different character, and that it is the detail which proved to be important in accomplishing this. She made an unusually special point, and for the first time, of examining features, the form and intricacies of, say, the ear and its lobes; being, she said, 'fascinated by teeth', and by giving a glimpse of their rough edges between slightly parted lips, she shows us the extraordinary: a gruesome touch. Sometimes they are not there - a different impact. 'When the teeth aren't going right I find something wrong at the back of the head, a sort of weird relationship'. Detail had become a passion - hands, feet, eyes, belts, buckles - things she had never bothered with before seemed to strike her as vital. With the bleakness of the Heads, such detail was essential to pin down a critical point of interest in the structure'.