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Sam Sherborne
Sam Sherborne said his sculpture Staying Alive was intended to add some humor to his illness experience
A serious health crisis inspired a Sheffield artist to create a series of award-winning sculptures featured in a new exhibition.
Sam Sherborne, 62, survived an infection after undergoing surgery to treat prostate cancer four years ago.
The blacksmith, who worked on his sculptures from his forge in the beer cellar of a former pub, has now exhibited pieces inspired by the health scare at the Cooper Gallery in Barnsley.
“These things took a very, very long time to make and if I had made them for a trivial reason I would have struggled to put in hours into them the way I did,” he said.
Although Mr Sherborne’s 2020 surgery was successful in removing the cancer, he lost a lot of blood and became increasingly ill in the days that followed.
Doctors were unsure whether he had sepsis or pneumonia because antibiotics and other treatments had no effect.
But he said a surgeon came to work on his day off to “shake things up” and put him on the road to recovery.
One of the works of art, Sulky Arrogant Saves My Life, is based on his original take on his surgeon’s demeanor.
“I thought he was grumpy and arrogant. Now I realize he was probably just overworked,” he said.
Cooper Gallery/Sam Sherborne
Sam Sherborne won the Cooper Prize last year for his work
Mr Sherborne’s sculptures were created in the basement of the former Vulcan pub in north-east Sheffield, which closed in the early 1970s and was almost completely destroyed by a gas explosion a few years later.
The artist, originally from Bristol, won the regional Cooper Prize for his work last year.
He said his illness was the “driving force” behind his recent art.
“Instead of feeling bitterness, I was able to process the experience and now I am generally grateful,” he added.
Sam Sherborne
Mr Sherborne’s workshop is located in the former beer cellar of a closed pub in Sheffield
The show includes five pieces charting Mr Sherborne’s illness, one of which is called Staying Alive.
Mr Sherborne said that by borrowing the song title from the Bee Gees he was able to bring “some levity” to the situation.
Other works reflected his upbringing in a ‘dysfunctional family’ and his ideas on climate change, among other things.
He added: “Even with the autobiographical pieces, the stories behind them are universal.
“People can sometimes feel like they are the only person in the world who has experienced something unusual, but hopefully art helps to show that many people have experienced this.”
The exhibition opened on November 2 and runs until the end of March.
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