Leigh Dyer is an artist, designer, blacksmith and sculptor specialising in stainless steel metal. You’ll find his work in St Leonards and Hastings and searching out the various pieces makes a fun Hastings sculpture trail whilst also telling you something about the town’s past.
The Winkle
Winkle Island is a traffic island in Hastings Old Town not far from the beach where the Hastings fishing fleet have been landing their catch of the day for centuries. Dyer’s sculpture of a giant winkle stands proud in the centre. Look carefully at the detail.
Dyer worked carefully with local fishermen to create this work and the details include the different fish they catch, shells and stones as well as bits of their equipment. Look closer again and you might notice that the man made elements of the sculpture (the nets, nails, etc.) are made of a rusting metal whereas the natural elements of the sculpture (the fish and winkles) remain shiny and smooth.
Chess Pieces
You’ll find Chess Pieces in Butler’s Gap, also in Hastings Old Town. Before these pieces were installed, this was a rather depressed little nook, and the sculptures were designed specifically to breathe life into this corner. You’ll find a glorious octopus sitting on a bench with its tentacles wrapped around the railings as it plays chess.
There’s also an eel, wrapped around a chess piece, and the sculptures are so curious and delightful, they cannot fail to draw you in.
Landing
Head down to Hastings beach to see this commemoration of the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the Norman invasion. It shows the prow of a ship but also has the elegant shape of a cormorant.
Marina
Head west to the far end of St Leonards seafront for the latest Leigh Dyer installation, Marina. Representing a cluster of mussel shells, the shiny concave surfaces show the audience themselves upside down – in an upside down world!
The Gates
There is one more Leigh Dyer piece that we’re yet to find. It’s adjacent to the old Hastings and St. Leonards Observer offices and printworks and the intricate yet bold design was inspired by the printing presses of yesteryear.
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