Hope

Royden Mills was born in Canada on March 19, 1963. As a youngster he spent an extended amount of time in the hospital. In very uncertain times, he learned that there was a sense of control to be gained from creating. While all else seemed uncertain, there were certain freedoms in the act of Drawing. Mills became dedicated to a career in Architecture, which took him to a diploma in Architecture and a short freelance career. His studies were funded by working with mentally handicapped people who continually reminded him that the human spirit is such a beautiful thing. At this time he followed his hearts desire and returned to Art School. In school he supplemented his visual studies with reading Buddhism and Taoism and Eastern Philosophy As a Graduate Student, it was an extended assistant-ship with the English Sculptor Sir Anthony Caro that helped to really open his eyes. In the early 90’s his wife, wished to move to Japan for a chance to experience something different. Mills saw this a possibility to learn more about “things” and was able to work in a studio on his own and create sculpture for a solo exhibition there in 1993. When they returned home, Canada and life in the world seemed much different. Mills realized that he could never make sculpture the same way, and could never teach as he had before, either. Royden Mills served as President of The Edmonton Contemporary Artists Society; Board Member at the Art Gallery, Chair of Committees etc., and even a recent role as Curator. All these roles have helped him appreciate the relationships and the work that are involved in bringing art to an audience. Royden Mills – “I feel that we all have very different tastes and life experiences, but we also share many similar values in life. It is these shared feelings that I feel are the most important and defining elements of being human. With my sculpture, my teaching, with my life, I try to explore the limits of our human liberty. Our freedom to explore, to be surprised, and yet to share a familiarity, is the essence of what I am trying to do. I consider all that we do to be a kind of unplanned preparation to further explore freedom.”

This sculpture is reminiscent of everyday objects such as tools or toys – or is it? It rises up and resists gravity from a rather formal, sturdy and strong base. In some ways it is like a traditional monument. Unlike a monument, which features a heroic figure, the imagery is of a resistance to inevitable entropy. In resisting gravity the tool may be a humble metaphor for Hope – the sculpture’s title. “In the face of life’s inevitable challenges we are all free to try to look beyond conventions of common thinking, and in that, perhaps we find hope.” Royden Mills