Michelle Castles’ creative talent was spotted at her final degree show at Sunderland. Now she has a growing reputation as a sculptor across the country and further afield

MICHELLE CASTLES' dynamic creations have been exhibited across the UK, from Harvey Nichols in London, to Haven Point leisure centre in South Shields. She has gained an international reputation for the stunning sculptures, which beautifully capture the human form.

But the 43-year-old says she could quite easily have been in a classroom teaching rather than following her creative dreams had it not been for her University of Sunderland Degree Show. Now, as hopeful students from fine art and photography to fashion and graphic design prepare to show off their final work, Michelle recalls how it set her on the road to success.

“I had done three years on an Art and Design course at Sunderland,” recalls Michelle, who is originally from Prudhoe. “I’d always wanted to be an artist but in my final year I was unsure if I was going to get a job."

She applied to do teacher training and was offered a place for when she graduated, but it was an offer she never took up.

“What happened following my degree show was like a dream come true,” says Michelle. Artist ‘scouts’ from London had been going around the country checking out the different displays by university students, saw her work and called to say they wanted it to be part of a new contemporary show in London that they were putting together for graduates.

“To be honest, I felt saved. I was shocked, surprised, I felt like this was my chance, my opportunity to be an artist," says Michelle.

One of Michelle’s first commissions, ‘Descent’ – a series of wire sculptures based around Dante’s Inferno, was bought by the university and remains on display at the Industry Centre.

Thanks to the London show, after graduating in 1998, Michelle got herself a space in a building in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle, while she had secured an agent. She then spent the next couple of years building a name for herself, determined to get her work on show in as many places as possible.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s been hard work,” she says “The highs have been incredibly high, but the lows, pretty low. The hours are tough and I spend many nights working right through, trying to meet the deadline for a commission.”

The work is pretty physical. Michelle’s creations examine anatomy of form, her wire mesh human sculptures inspired by a moment in time in dance or sport.

For her commission at Haven Point in South Shields, Michelle had to create ten life-size figures from stainless steel, work that required brutal physicality to complete. “But I love it,” she says. “If I take a week off, I’m itching to get back to it as soon as I can. To me, the human form has always been the ultimate challenge, I look at lots of images, models on social media and I get inspired. I like to create figures in a sequence of movements.”

Currently, Michelle is working from her studio in Cumbria, where she produces unique sculptures that have adorned galleries and spaces around the country. Her work starts with initial sketches, before 3D models and then the final life-size sculpture. The result is as impressive as it is resilient. Powerful and expressive, the creations look equally at home indoors and out.

As they come to the end of their time at university, Michelle wishes the latest cohort of degree show students the best of luck as they prepare to put their work on public display at the University of Sunderland.

“This is a time to feel proud of your achievements and for all of the hard work you have put in," she says. "But a time to realise too, that, as well as being a conclusion, it is more importantly a beginning from which to launch."

Degree Shows 2018 at the university take place weekdays 10am to 5pm until Friday, June 22. Locations: Priestman Building: Fine Art and Photography; CitySpace Studio: Animation; Advertising; Games & App Design; Fashion, Product and Promotion; Graphic Design; Illustration.

National Glass Centre: Glass and Ceramics.