Matthew Lane Sanderson

The Customer

Matthew Lane Sanderson, from Sanderson Sculpture, is a sculptor who specialises in large-scale works and civic fine art. His expertise lies in fusing structural art with natural engineering; this is demonstrated in his work with Dr John Taylor creating the ‘Chronophage’ for the Corpus Clock in Cambridge (see photo) and in the ‘Crowned Stag’ (see photo) at Beaulieu, Chelmsford. He is based in Hereford with his family and has been crafting his Big Art for 20 years, installing over seventy civic projects across the UK and internationally. He is a commissioned sculptor of steel, copper and bronze and is known for taking these resilient materials and creating delicate and graceful yet bold works, with natural themes and mythic creatures.

The Challenge

Matthew Lane Sanderson worked on a project making an automated donations box for the Museum of Zoology in Cambridge to be installed when the museum reopened after a 5 year refurbishment in July 2018. His design featured bees on honeycomb at the centre of the piece; Corex Honeycomb supplied samples of aluminium honeycomb, to see if it was suitable for his creation.

The Solution

The aluminium honeycomb proved ideal for the sculpture and Matthew set to work on his art installation, a fantasy zoological airship carrying eminent professors of zoology, a curator, technicians, young students and resident artists. It was made from 90% recycled materials and with renewable energy. The figures on the sculpture are the work of fellow artist Rachel Wood.

The Outcome

The fantastic work now stands in the foyer of the Museum of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, it is a whale like airship with a beehive at its core to maintain constant heat and steam to a nautilus inspired engine! It is referred to as a ‘automata’ as when a donation is put in the box, and the wheel on the outside of the box is turned, the whales tail moves as it ‘swims along’.