Spotlight On: William Feez, TBSSS alumni
Archive image: William (left) and Tom Bass AM (middle) in the Studio at Broadway.
Name: William Feez
What years did you attend classes at TBSSS?
Student from 1975 off and on till 1979 with a little teaching in between...
What was unique about your TBSSS experience?
A place of safety and learning... a home base during an unstable time.
What was your first impression walking in to TBSSS at Broadway?
A forgotten world where I belonged...
What was your first impression of Tom?
He was warm and welcoming, but a little overpowering...
Can you share your memories of the picture above?
It is 1975… a portrait of Phillipa Gemmel Smith… it would have been cast around April, so the photo was probably taken in May…
I can still feel Tom’s intensity as we discussed the work… I was very grateful he didn’t deeply gauge a centreline into the wet clay with a modelling tool… and grateful for his positive response to the portrait…
The school was new, but felt established by then… most days and evening classes were full… it was popular, the students were genuine and committed, yet mostly older women searching for meaning now children were leaving home… That was a bit unsettling for a young art student, which I was then… I was wanting more of my own age group…
But it was the life class, another level of intensity… a nearly mystical immersion… absorbing the human form to then recreate into clay… it had a transformative power of atmosphere and process, that feed my hunger for sculpture… Tom, the building, the location and the space all spoke of another world…
On my arrival, I recall stepping out of present-day Sydney, running up the narrow winding steps and into a magical, expansive place cluttered with benches and plaster castings arranged in the geometric shadows and light straining through dusty yellowy glass windows under massive wooden trusses greeted by Tom in smock, white beard and head scarf… I had found Camelot and its protector, Merlin… here I could relax, I could be the student, I could explore both being myself as well as artmaker…
During lunch Tom would talk with the older students, many friends from his art past, reminiscing about personalities and events from an era before… it was an art history underscoring Tom’s rich personal life’s work from where the school originated… I gave my attention to Tom’s treasure trove of art books while sitting quietly on the blue seats soaking it all in…
I feel this photo was taken during a publicity shoot for the school… the portrait was cast and coloured by then, however I can vividly remember an earlier day showing Phillipa the finished portrait in clay at the sculpture school in the morning, then we went off to the Inaugural Women’s March followed by moderate acknowledgement of my 21st birthday of the 8th March 1975.
I came and went to the school for many years, a kind of home for me, Tom was consistently focussed, yet always kind and welcoming… a significant father figure… though it took on many changes, different people and dynamics, eventually softened by Margo’s guidance, the school at Broadway really was a sanctuary, for me, and it remained a place where I felt safe and belonged… I learnt so much there… it helped shape my life… Tom taught more than just making sculpture…
How have your studies at the TBSSS prepared you for your practice?
The life class was just that... a life class... awakening in me the miracle of physical life... it also gave an invaluable grounding for making objects, but was outside of current practice...
What was your favourite medium to work in?
My last sculpture, a crucifix, was clay modelling cast into a durable plaster...
What lessons / skills / concepts have stayed with you from your time at TBSSS?
It provided a solid base of making form in a range of materials upon which I have evolved creatively... Tom's 'seeing form' was a game changer...
What inspires your practice today?
How higher energies informs our material creativity.
Anything else you would like to share?
An invaluable chapter of my life...
Thank you Bill!