An international garden artist from Axminster will be returning to this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the 8th time.

Adrian Gray is a stonebalancer. He will be showing two major stonebalancing sculptures this year, using a 290-million-year-old Cornish granite boulders balanced as if ‘by a thread.’

One piece of art, ‘Heavy is a place on earth’ stands at four metres tall with a total weight of 11 tonnes. As well as his two monumental balanced sculptures, Adrian will also be exhibiting ten small indoor sculptures and three garden-sized pieces.

Made using local rocks, Adrian’s smaller works will feature natural patterns and shapes formed by quartz and calcite intrusions. Visitors to the tradestand can watch live as he balances stones throughout the day. 

Adrian Gray said: "I am drawn to the naturally weathered stones, molded over the millenniums by the wind and rain. I can spend days wandering the rock strewn fields of the farm (where I buy my rocks,) pairing them in my head in different orientations trying to envisage an improbable composition. As the rocks can weigh up to eight tonnes, getting them to my outdoor studio is a job in itself so picking the wrong ones can be a costly error. Lots of big kit is involved."

“The hero sculptures on the stand this year will be two of just the four or five I make each year. Although I have been at this for many years now, the job of selecting the stones, trying different compositions, strapping, balancing and filming the process and finally making a safe sculpture cannot be rushed.

“I am always striving to create a sculpture that has the perfect combination of inexplicable balance and naturalistic form, a paradox in itself, but with the aim of amplifing a sense of wonder in the viewer. The puzzling nature of my balances offers a moment of escapism and wonder to the visitors of my stand.”

Adrian has spent the last 23 years exploring the fine art of balance in any and all types of rock. Using carefully selected weathered stones he creates balanced sculptures that range in size from desktop balances to 6 metre installations.