Becoming a blacksmith was not something Cape Town born sculptor, artist, toolmaker and self-taught blacksmith Conrad Hicks imagined of himself when he was younger.
It was more a case of something that he became drawn to as he got older and began exploring his creativity as an artist and designer. Born in 1966, Hicks studied Art and Design at the Cape Technikon, graduating with distinction in 1986. His parents were both architects and artists and lectured at the University of Cape Town, so perhaps it was inevitable that his creativity would find a way to manifest itself in some form.
Hicks has honed his skills and understanding of the materials – mostly copper, iron and steel – he works with through decades of hand-forging, hammering, manipulating and experimenting with the properties of these metals by creating functional and attractive tools and pieces of art.
Becoming a blacksmith – central to Conrad Hicks’ evolution as a blacksmith has been his anvil
“We are meant to be using our hands to make things,” says Hicks. “It is in our DNA to use them to make tools and other implements. We as humans have been doing this for millennia.”
“For me, it’s about mastering your material until it becomes subconscious – you are not consciously thinking about what you are doing. I use the material to express myself.”
“It’s a combination of the one side of your brain performing the metallurgy and the other side of the brain recognising the art and the functionality – I recognise it in the material and then I start to bring it out – then the piece starts telling me what it’s about – that’s the artist at work. Hand-forged objects for me must be functional and beautiful, but they can also be statements that portray a deeper personal meaning.”
The hot forging process is indispensable to Conrad Hicks’ technique as a blacksmith and artist
The anvil
Central to Hicks’ evolution as both a blacksmith and an artist is his anvil. It still stands proudly, almost as an enigma, on the floor of his forge.
“I purchased the anvil in about 1988 before I even really knew how to use it. It had spent a part of its life being used for railway work by a guy who predominantly made flanges. At the time I purchased it from him when he retired, I was working for a company that was mainly doing restoration work on things like balustrades, hinges and refurbishing locks and that kind of thing.”
“After that, I spent some time overseas and worked for a company learning a bit more about the restoration trade as well as artwork restoration.”
Large solid piece of copper in process on a power hammer – becoming a solid copper chaise
Forged Solid Copper Chaise – The person who lies in this chaise is meant to press themselves against the material to feel the energy of the copper. Expressive, sensual lines and forms evoke the pressure of emotions explored during the forging process
“It was only really when I returned to South Africa that I started working with the anvil – not intending to set up a business with it because you can’t make a living with just an anvil – maybe a few hundred years ago yes, then it was like a laptop or something. But I started getting commissioned more regularly, bending up architectural type stuff, I had the fire and was doing a bit of forging, making tools and jigs, also doing some welding work.”
“Then I realised I was actually slowly becoming a blacksmith. Slowly learning how to do it. I had a couple of guys that were working for me doing some of the striking work. Remember, this was a time before the Internet so I managed to get hold of a few books to read to help me along. And then in around 1995, once the Internet got going, I was able to get in touch with a few blacksmiths in America, purchased my first power hammer and progressed from there in my knowledge and techniques. I was fortunate though in that I had the design side background so that helped a lot. That original power hammer – I have since sold it on – paid for a lot of things, including the deposit for this building. And the anvil has been a part of all of that.”
“The design experience meant that I could do simple blacksmithing, but make it beautiful. It’s all good having the technical knowledge but without being able to make it look good, nobody is going to buy it. The connections, the joins, how it hangs and comes together are all very important – this is how something gets its meaning. It’s the source of its composition. The traditional methods of blacksmithing really appeal to me.”
“A blacksmith is basically a toolmaker and the tools that I make to create my art become extensions of my body.”
Before and during the shaping process, metal is first heated in a fire in a forge before it becomes soft and easier to manipulate. Once hot, the metal is transferred to an anvil or to a power hammer where it can be shaped using various tools
Walking around the forge with Hicks and seeing the hundreds of tools and tongs that he has made over the years to craft his works you can see the relationship he has built with them. Some for specific purposes only, and others for more general use. Each tool or tong he picks up and holds immediately becomes exactly that – an extension of his body as he manipulates and holds it in his hands.
“I realised that what I was doing when I was making tools to make something else was that if I approached the making of the tool as if I was doing a drawing or making a sculpture, that the same set of instincts around form and composition applied. So, if you make a tool that is beautiful, then it will work well. And this applies especially when forging, you’re working very quickly with the power hammer coming down repeatedly so you need to be able to work intuitively. Then you work toward what you understand in terms of beauty and form and it will be right in terms of its engineering.”
“I want to show people what I see when I am working and the things I see,” Hicks explains. Hicks works with both raw and recycled materials and says each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Specifically speaking about heating the materials in his fire and the manipulation that follows, he says material will fracture and form differently depending on its purity and that its form will take shape accordingly. Cracks that emerge in recycled copper become beautiful he explains. And in turn the artwork evolves with this.
Woven Bench – Antique wrought iron pieces woven together with bronze wedges and stainless steel panels
Archaeology and anthropology
“Over the years I have studied a lot of archaeology and anthropology and I have a big fascination with stone tools. And if you look at how we as humans developed these tools, we figured out what works well and what also looks beautiful. And because it worked, we also found pleasure in it. If you make things by hand, it’s unpleasant to do a bad job.”
Hicks has also travelled extensively and experienced many cultures’ perspectives of blacksmithing and its unique cultural heritage, symbolism and significance all over the world. He has collected many pieces of work from around Africa and is fascinated with their forms and the techniques used to make them, notably the tribalistic figurines, many of which are displayed in his on-site gallery set adjacent to his forge and workshop.
He says that technology represents a society’s values and aspirations, and the early blacksmiths created objects that held not only artistic beauty but symbolic and idealistic properties too.
Phoenix Table III – Patinated Forged Copper, Stainless Steel & Iron Side Table – a side table derived from the Maquette series, using copper, stainless steel, and iron to contrast the nature of the metal
The Fibonacci Sculpture. “It represents the principle of growth first described by Fibonacci: If you add a constant percentage to a given quantity, it will increase exponentially in a spiral. This is demonstrated graphically or through objects which demonstrate natural growth such as trees, flowers, and plants. It can also apply to creativity when there is an algorithmic stability present. The Fibonacci pattern rests on the base of this sculpture; its shape illustrates Fibonacci concept of growth. The corners of the squares are made up of sculptures or metal pieces. All the pieces are identical in size and as they come closer together, they begin to press against each other according to the base structure or algorithm; this causes the pieces to have to be forged taller because there is no space for them to spread out. This is a system or algorithm and what creates a stable platform for growth and creativity to occur.”
Hand-forged cooking pans and skillets
“I can’t really remember how it came about – making cooking pans and skillets – I think it was more an exploration to see whether I could make a tool to create the form for the pan to create functional cooking implements. I then ended up making a few pans for my friends too. The intention was never to start a business with it.”
“Then my kids – still teenagers at the time, this was about 2013 – wanted some pocket money. And so, I said, ‘Ok, let’s start a little business,’ and make these pans.”
“So we started to make these pans and the kids would go off and sell them at the old Oranjezicht City Farm and Market. They learned so much from the process – how much effort goes into just making a pan – to selling it and the interpersonal skills that go along with that. They really benefitted from the whole process.”
“The kids then went overseas to study and Covid came along and I thought well I better look at what other streams of income I can look at. So I decided to put the pan making business online – it had sort of taken a backstep after the kids left – I was still getting requests for pans, but I hadn’t given it much thought. Then it suddenly took off. I think it had all the right elements that people were looking for at that time – people were shopping online, it was handmade, functional and it looked good and felt good when you held it.”
“The idea really was just to make things that I like using. Something I would use in my own home. And I guess people relate to that.”
“This also relates back to my various exhibitions and all my sculptures over the years – I call them implements, they are all tools – they communicate values, they are vehicles to say something.”
Sketch of the Wind Sculpture. Abstract drawings prompt Conrad Hicks’ creative processes before a sculpture eventually comes to life in a physical form
Wind Sculpture – symbolising relationship. The sculpture is made from steel and copper, and the exploration between the two. Copper is tied to Venus (feminine) in contrast with steel and Mars (masculine)
“My grandfather was a toolmaker on the railways and he started working on his apprenticeship when he was 12. He told my father, ‘You don’t want to do this, this isn’t a nice life.’ So we kind of went through a few generations where everyone was wanting to be a professional – we were discouraged from doing apprenticeships and trades because it was dirty, hard work – but what are professionals? Young people are now realising the value in making something, they want to make things with their hands again. It’s a rare skill and they also don’t seem to have the association that working in a factory is a problem anymore.”
The skillets, pans and roasting pan are now available in various sizes, crafted from 4mm steel and feature concave hand-forged handles and are heat treated with beeswax that penetrates the steel, creating an almost non-stick layer. If looked after properly, the pan will last a lifetime.
The Bijou
Hicks purchased the building he operates from in 1998. It was an old Art Deco cinema called The Bijou that is located in Observatory, Cape Town, and this is still the building’s name today. Over the years, Hicks has transformed it into a multifaceted workspace that houses not only his forge, workshop and personal gallery and collection of art, but a space that is also now a home and creative hub for other artists and craftsmen and women. It offers studios for rent, space for exhibitions and other events.
Bronze Angel – experiment with different bronze mixtures. Often Hicks creates a maquette before beginning a larger a project, but the maquettes are beautiful in their own right
Bronze samples forged using different techniques. Hicks has honed his skills and understanding of the materials – mostly copper, iron and steel – he works with through decades of hand-forging, hammering, manipulating and experimenting with the properties of these metals by creating functional and attractive tools and pieces of art. “We are meant to be using our hands to make things,” says Hicks. “It is in our DNA to use them to make tools and other implements. We as humans have been doing this for millennia. A blacksmith is basically a toolmaker and the tools that I make to create my art become extensions of my body.”
Hicks’ intention was always to retain as much of the building’s character as possible when he was restoring it after a fire had ravaged it before he purchased it. He says the character and form of the building have given him inspiration for his own works.
The Bijou now houses tenants that include MercerBikes – handmade steel bicycle frames crafted by David Mercer, various artists and even a baker.
Some of Hicks’ notable works include the Kirstenbosch Gates in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the metal gates, screens, doors, and spiral staircase that Hicks designed for Tokara Winery. Hicks also created the gates at The Cape Quarter and he completed six sculptures for the 2010 World Cup Hero Walk in Cape Town. He has also been commissioned to blacksmith and sculpt numerous private works that can be found all over the world.
Hand-forged cooking pans and skillets – Hicks says hand-forged cooking implements started as an exploration to see whether he could make a tool to create the form for the pan to create functional cooking implements. They’re available via one of Hicks’ projects – The Tool Room – in various sizes, crafted from 4mm steel, featuring concave hand-forged handles and are heat treated with beeswax that penetrates the steel, creating an almost non-stick layer. If looked after properly, the pan will last a lifetime. Pictured: Joubert “Juba” Tulleken of Endless Africa on an overlanding tour. Juba says he can’t imagine cooking with anything else
Apart from his forge and anvil, Hicks makes use of a number of power hammers, a ring roller, hundreds of hand-forged tongs, various handheld hammers – including one that belonged to his grandfather that he uses extensively – a press, a variety of tools and pencils and paper that he begins his design process with before creating a maquette for a project.
Hicks has recently started forging with bronze and says that this is his new challenge as forging bronze comes with its own challenges, none more so than very careful temperature control. “I love the natural patina that comes from working with copper, but I’m getting a bit bored of working with copper.”
“Creativity happens when you have a solid technical base and you master your understanding of your material,” concluded Hicks.
Hicks’ next upcoming exhibition titled, Implemente IV, will be 20th of November 2025 at Objects With Narratives in Brussels. Images courtesy of Conrad Hicks and Endless Africa.
For further information visit: https://conradhicks.com or https://toolroomonline.co.za
