Bronze Bust Jim Clark

The bronze bust of Jim Clark exudes an air of determination and concentration. It captures the essence of a man who lived life in the fast lane. He pushed the boundaries of speed and skill on the racetrack.

It serves as a visual homage and a tangible connection to the past. It allows admirers of motorsport to feel a sense of proximity to the legendary driver.

Jim Clark was a man of two distinct personalities. In the car he was decisive, relaxed, supreme in his confidence and a pure natural talent that meant he never needed to drive at more than nine tenths of his ability to humble the opposition. But out of the car Clark was nervous, shy individual uncomfortable in the spotlight and struggling to make simple decisions like where to go for dinner or what film to see.

Over a period of about a year I made eight version s of Jim Clark. I had intended to portray him with that broad smile we see in so many black and white photographs but it never really captured the whole man. Then I tried a brooding approach but that made him too anxious and somehow fearful looking.

In the end the Video”Nine Days in Summer” came to my rescue. There is a staged segment towards the end of the film where Clark visits Watkins Glen before the 1967 Grand Prix. Clark waking alone on the rain-soaked track is made all the more poignant because we know he is to die at Hockenheim only a few months later.

He looks calm and a little preoccupied and I felt this would be an ideal moment to take my sculptural snapshot and produce this bronze bust of Jim Clark.

• Height 30cm/12in
• Weight 5 kg
• Limited to an edition of 650