Name: Vahid Erfan

Insitution: The Institute, East Finchley

Course:  Sculpture

Sculpting is the art of creating 3D pieces out of almost any material you can think of. On a sculpture course, the things you can make are endless – from wood sculptures to marble sculptures in all shapes and sizes. We caught up with sculpture enthusiast, Vahid Erfan, the newest addition to the teaching staff at The Institute, to find out how he came to teach sculpture courses.

Described as inspiring and charismatic by his colleagues, Vahid started his life in Iran and followed his passion for art and creativity with a course in fine art at Tehran University. He and his wife then lived in the Netherlands for nearly 20 years where he worked as an arts educator, teaching in a specialist design college.

In 2005, when he moved with his wife to the UK, Vahid had to re-train and he came to The Institute to do his teaching practice while he studied for his PGCE. He now works at The Institute as a qualified sculpture teacher.

The breadth and diversity of Vahid’s own learning experience make him especially suited to teach sculpture courses in adult education, where – particularly in London, home of The Institute – students tend to come from a huge range of different backgrounds and origins.

Vahid is really passionate about being creative and is actually trained in two different artistic disciplines, “I studied both sculpture and graphic design, at the Univesity of Rotterdam, it was quite an unconventional combination.”

He still manages to combine the two in his work, teaching painting and drawing as well as sculpting. Out of the classroom, he works as a freelance graphic designer and sculpts on the side, using clay or stone or casting from concrete.

Spending a large amount of his time sculpting, it’s clear Vahid Erfan oozes enthusiasm for his subject. He’s particularly fascinated by the relationship in sculpture between the concept and the material, “Sometimes the choice of material follows the idea, but sometimes the idea is guided by the material.”

Students taking one of Vahid’s sculpture classes can expect to learn how to model different materials as well as developing good observational skills. You will be given a good knowledge of sculpture and acquire the necessary foundations to take your work further. The class is suitable for all abilitie: "There is an amazing atmosphere in my Saturday morning class as students from widely differing worlds share their love of sculpture."