Laura Ford and Amy Stephens create works for The Royal Society of Sculptor's Fundraiser

Gallery artists Laura Ford and Amy Stephens have created new miniature works as part of the The Royal Society of Sculptor's 10gram Challenge, raising funds to restore Dora House, their Grade II listed building in London.

In 2024, the RSS launched Creating a Home for Sculptors, the third phase of the restoration process, following their successful 2022 Saving Dora House campaign. Creating a Home for Sculptors will transform the derelict basement into a welcoming flat for visiting artists with flexible studio space and a home for the RSS archive.

As part of the fundraising efforts, the RSS invited notable artists with longstanding ties with the Society to participate in the  10gram Challenge. Participating artists were asked to create a small scale sculpture from a 10 gram wax block that would then be cast in bronze at the Milwyn Fine Art Foundry in Surrey. 

The challenge culminated in a two-day exhibition that was generously hosted by Thomas Dane Gallery in October 2024 where these unique creations were available for sale. 

Amy Stephens created  Restless Matter (study), 2024 which references a large scale sculpture she created with year from marble and stainless steel. Amy said  "As an artist often making work at human scale, but more recently on an industrial scale, the 10g challenge invited me to rethink the process in miniature. During art school, I was encouraged to make a small and large painting at the same time to ensure I reverted back with control and precision when the large painting became too abstract. It has been great to revisit this process of making. Restless Matter (study I), 2024 forms part of a series of work that begun at Frieze Sculpture 2023 and continues to evolve in materiality and scale."

Laura Ford's creation is called Downhill Only, 2024 and features a black cat using skis. Talking about the challenge, Laura said "I really enjoyed this challenge, being given the lollypop and bronze sticks allowed the joy of improvisation, like a very limited, miniature dressing up box."

To learn more about the 10gram Challenge and the Royal Society of Sculptor's development project, visit their website.