Nic Wells Bladen

Nic Bladen works and lives in the mountainous coastal hamlet Kalk Bay, on the Cape Peninsula.

This provides the perfect setting for extracting matter for his work as a sculptor, jeweller and metalsmith. Nic's work fuses a background in precision dental technology, with the knowledge and hands-on experience of bronze sculpture casting.

He depicts his meanderings in the Kalk Bay mountains, drawing on the beautiful indigenous flora known as fynbos (fine or delicate shrubbery).

Using the principles of the lost wax casting technique, Nic experiments and pushes his own limits in order to cast impossibly delicate flowers. This fragility is juxtaposed with the extraordinary internal structure and strength of these pieces.