In this episode of The Inquisitive Artist, I’m joined by Isabel Langtry – monumental sculptor and Principal of Hampstead School of Art. We talk about what it really means to make work at public scale – not just technically, but emotionally and socially too. Isabel shares how her early experiences of moving between cultures and not quite “fitting the mould” helped shape her sensitivity towards people, and how that empathy now runs through everything she does.
We explore the practical realities behind monumental work – how commissions often begin with proposals and models, how funding can take time to piece together, and why public sculpture is rarely as straightforward as it looks from the outside. Isabel describes the relationship-shift that happens when you work at architectonic sizes (including a major work for Beijing Olympic Park), and the sheer physicality involved – fabrication, transport, teams, and decision-making at scale.
We also talk materials and process – bronze, steel, surface, patina, and how time and weather change a sculpture’s presence – alongside the artists who’ve influenced her. And throughout, a clear thread emerges: Isabel’s belief that art is for everybody, and that access to excellent training shouldn’t be limited to those who already have a way in. That ethos sits at the heart of her outreach and inreach work, and it’s also why she launched the London Sculpture Prize – to create more opportunities for sculptors internationally.
Links mentioned in this episode
Courtesy images (used with permission)
Unless otherwise stated, the following images are reproduced courtesy of Hampstead School of Art (HSoA) / the artist / the photographer.
Courtesy of Hampstead School of Art (HSoA)
Isabel Langtry with Pop
Hampstead School of Art (building / interior images)
Isabel Langtry unveiling Gravity (Riyadh)
Performance (Andes River, Chile)
Isabel Langtry performance (Spain)
Isabel Langtry with Morphini (Fuerteventura)
Alan Gouk (portrait)
Alan Gouk (painting)
Isabel with Fae
Isabel studio in Hampstead church
Bliss (Beijing)
Serin (Riyadh)
Fae (London)
Petals (Kidderpore Gardens)
Francisco Gazitúa (portrait – if used)
Prado Park, Chile
Tres / Brook Green, London
Isabel in the studio
Isabel drilling Gravity in Riyadh
Isabel with sculpture Gravity,Riyadh
Isabel with Petals
Maquette for Bliss
Pop (Berkeley Square) – multiple stages / angles
Petals – Majorca / in progress
Pop in two pieces
Drilling Gravity in Riyadh
Pop in progress (Hampstead studio)
Courtesy of Isabel Langtry
Isabel’s parents in Lagos
Isabel performance art image(s) (Spain)
Isabel as an undergraduate (portrait)
Courtesy of Inno Drinks
Inno Drinks images (product / branding)
Isabel with Yulia (Inno Drinks)
Permission of the artist
Marco Paniz – Madame Gènée (London Sculpture Prize related visuals)
Lindsey Tyson / personal photographs
Hampstead School of Art (photographs) – © Lindsey Tyson
Colours of the Sea (prize-winning exhibition at HSoA) – © Lindsey Tyson
Isabel and Lindsey selfie – © Lindsey Tyson
Sumi Perera
Lindsey Tyson in front of Wednesday (Women in Art Prize) – photo © Sumi Perera
Lindsey Tyson with Sumi Perera and HSoA Trustee Wendy McKinnon – photo © Sumi Perera
Barbara Hepworth (editorial / contextual reference)
Barbara Hepworth images used briefly for editorial/contextual reference:
Barbara Hepworth, Mother and Child (1934). Image © Bowness / Hepworth Estate – photo: Tate.
Barbara Hepworth working on Oval Form (Trezion), St Ives (1963). Photograph: Val Wilmer – © Bowness / Hepworth Estate.
Henry Moore (copyrighted)
Henry Moore, Recumbent Figure (1938). © The Henry Moore Foundation. All Rights Reserved. DACS 2025. Image credit: Tate.
Source: https://contemporaryartsociety.org/objects/recumbent-figure-1938
Public domain / Open Access museum images
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access / Public Domain)
Standing female figure, Tala-Tonalá (Jalisco, West Mexico), 300 BCE–300 CE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Open Access (Public Domain).
Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/318993Beaded figure, Yoruba artist (Nigeria), wood and glass beads. The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Open Access (Public Domain).
Twin Figure (Ibeji), Yoruba peoples (Nigeria), 19th–20th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Open Access (Public Domain).
Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/311121
Wikimedia Commons / Geograph (Creative Commons)
Lagos / Nigeria (1970s)
“A road in southern Nigeria from Lagos to the north – palms seen through the windshield (1970–73).” Photo: Aart Rietveld – via African Studies Centre Leiden / Wikimedia Commons.
Hanging fruit
Mango fruits hanging from a tree – photo by Mihailo Gospodnetic, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mangoes_on_tree.jpg
Benin Bronzes
Benin Bronze plaque (Kingdom of Benin, 16th century). Photo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benin_Bronzes_at_the_British_Museum_2.jpg
Hull docks
William Wright Dock, Kingston upon Hull – photo by Bernard Sharp, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (Geograph).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Wright_Dock,_Kingston_upon_Hull_-_geograph.org.uk_-_5049080.jpg
Ferens Art Gallery
Ferens Art Gallery, Queen Victoria Square, Hull – photo by Peter Church, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (Geograph).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferens_Art_Gallery,_Queen_Victoria_Square,_Hull_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1067215.jpgFerens Art Gallery, Hull – photo by Keith D, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferens_Art_Gallery.jpg
Hull School of Art & Design
Hull School of Art and Design, Hull – photo by Richard Webb, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph / Wikimedia Commons.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hull_School_of_Art_and_Design_-_geograph.org.uk_-_957870.jpg
Stonehenge
Stonehenge – photo by Balou46, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GB-stonehenge-06.jpg
Venus of Willendorf
Venus of Willendorf (front view) – photo by MatthiasKabel, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venus_of_Willendorf_frontview.jpg
Ernst Barlach
Ernst Barlach, Spaziergänger (wood sculpture) – public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.
Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi (photo by Jun Miki, c. 1950–51) – Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Anthony Caro
Photo by Andrew Dunn (2004), depicting Anthony Caro – Dream City (1996). CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caro_DreamCity_1996.jpg
Katherine Gili
Katherine Gili in her studio (2017) – photograph by Cameron Amiri. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katherine_Gili_in_her_studio,_2017.jpg
Central YMCA London
“Central London YMCA, Great Russell Street” – Stephen Richards (Geograph), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Central_London_YMCA,_Great_Russell_Street_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2649878.jpg
Altab Ali Park, Whitechapel
“Altab Ali Park, Whitechapel” – Stephen McKay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (Geograph).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Altab_Ali_Park,_Whitechapel_-_geograph.org.uk_-_758890.jpg
Hammersmith Art College
“Hammersmith West London College, Talgarth Road W14” – Robin Sones (Geograph), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hammersmith_West_London_College,_Talgarth_Road_W14_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1288255.jpg
Whitechapel Gallery (Geograph)
“Whitechapel Art Gallery” – photo © Peter Trimming (Geograph), CC BY-SA 2.0.
Source: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3805303
St Martin’s School of Art (building images)
St Martin’s School of Art building (historic), London – via Wikimedia Commons.
St Martin’s School of Art building (historic), London – photograph by A. Powers, via Wikimedia Commons.
(Note: During the period discussed in the podcast, the institution was known as St Martin’s School of Art, later part of Central Saint Martins.)
Pre-Columbian terracotta (museum Open Access)
West Mexico terracotta figures – The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Open Access (Public Domain).
Source (example): https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/318993
All images used briefly for editorial/educational illustration. Copyright remains with the respective rights holders.
