Paul Vanstone: Modelling the Present from the Past

The Summer 2026 issue of Antiqvvs features an in-depth interview with Paul Vanstone, written by Mark Merrony, exploring his approach to sculpture, his relationship with stone and the many historical and cultural influences that have shaped his work.

In the wide-ranging conversation, Paul discusses everything from his early training at Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art, to his years working in Carrara and his continuing fascination with the different qualities of marble, onyx and alabaster.

A recurring theme throughout the interview is the relationship between the sculptor and the material. Paul explains how he responds to each individual block, allowing its colour, veining, structure and character to influence what emerges from it.

He also reflects on the long history of carving and the importance of looking at what has been made in a material before. From Greek and Roman sculpture and Egyptian figures to work from India, Mexico and the Inca civilisation, Paul describes how encountering different cultures and their approaches to stone has continually informed his own practice.

The interview also explores Paul’s Carrara Marble Triceratops now installed in Berkeley Square, and his fascination with the ability of stone to retain both softness and strength.

It is a fascinating conversation about making, materials, history and the accumulated experience of more than three decades of carving.

Read the full interview from the Summer 2026 issue of Antiqvvs below.

Read the full Antiqvvs interview

We strongly encourage readers who enjoy the interview to support Antiqvvs and discover more of the magazine’s fantastic writing by subscribing to the publication.

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Hector, six, plays beside Paul Vanstone’s newly installed sculpture Carrara Triceratops skull in Berkeley Square, London

A life-sized dinosaur head carved from a single piece of marble has been unveiled in central London.

In Mayfair in London, you can see a sculpture of a Triceratops skull

First Abu Dhabi Bank gets triceratops neighbour in central London
Life-sized marble skull sculpture takes prominent place in Berkeley Square, Mayfair

First look as life-sized marble Triceratops skull unveiled in Mayfair’s Berkeley Square

Berkeley Square swaps Nightingales for Dinosaurs as a Triceratops arrives
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“We have definitely noticed an increase in people mixing indoor and outdoor sculpture, and having more continuity from one to the other – marble and onyx pieces are a good way of playing with this contrast,” says Paul Vanstone, a London-based artist who trained with Anish Kapoor and is a regular presence at the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Vanstone creates largely abstract figurative pieces from globally sourced hard stone, and takes commissions from around the world. “You need to see where in your life you would like something, then pursue the right sculpture for it,” Vanstone says.

“Getting the scale and subject right is not easy, but when it works, it’s magical. You can really change a garden.”

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