A story told in stone: Making a play of architectural spaces on a small scale, the solid stones of Matthew Simmonds are carved to open up and reveal intricate internal worlds in which the changing viewpoint and light play a strong role in defining the sculpture. Rather than the standard addition of separately sculpted elements, his is a process of subtraction, in which the space is generated by voiding an existing mass, and the intricate detail is achieved through layers and layers of meticulous work. Drawing on skills learnt as an architectural stone carver, Matthew’s small-scaled sculptures adopt stone architecture – particularly sacred stone architecture – as a central theme. “I’m mostly interested in religious architecture, and the sense of sacred spaces that this can invoke,” he says. “I have always been more inspired by common heritage than the work of individual artists. I am also inspired by the qualities of the material itself and the potential that exists in a solid, often once living, material where the creative process involves only the removal of material.”