Starting his sculptures in the 1960s and 1970s, William Pye is an artist known on a global scale for its sculptures focused around water. Pye was born in London, but spent a lot of time at his family’s country home in Surrey, where he became fascinated with the abundant rivers and lakes in the area. The natural world combined with the use of geometry became a major source of inspiration for the artist.

He started photographing water on his travels: gorges in Spain or pools on a mountaintop in Mexico. Pye soon started to include water as a major element in his sculptures made from stainless steel. One of his most recent creations that took the virtual world by storm is a Vortex Fountain, a fantastic water sculpture called Charybdis. Located in Seaham Hall, Sunderland, the United Kingdom, Charybdis is a free-standing water column with a whirlpool that spins in the center.

The whirlpool is formed with the help of an acrylic polymer cylinder that forms an air-core vortex, the water being pumped through a circular motion. In order to ensure the color of the water and to maintain transparency, a high level of flirtation is needed.

Find out more about William Pye’s art on his website.