George Orwell Sculpture: A Piece I Wanted to Make for Years

Armin Hesampour

Sep 28

3 min read

I’m not sure if I should say unfortunately or fortunately, but I first read 1984 when I was 28.

I’m glad I finally read it, but at the same time, I remember thinking: why did it take me so long?

I still remember reading it on the bus in the mornings, on my way to the office. I got completely absorbed in it. I loved the dark, oppressive atmosphere Orwell created, but at the same time, I found it genuinely terrifying.

I think that was when this idea first got stuck in my head: one day, I wanted to create artwork based on the world of 1984.

For years, I never really had the chance. To be fair, I didn’t exactly have the time for it now either. But at some point, I thought, let me at least start with something.

George Orwell sculpture inspired by 1984 with the Ministry of Truth integrated into the portrait bust

From George Orwell Sculpture and the Ministry of Truth

George Orwell is one of my favorite writers, and when I decided to make a George Orwell sculpture, I didn’t want it to be just another portrait bust.

I wanted to bring something from the world he created into the sculpture itself.

The first things that came to mind were 1984, Winston Smith, and the Ministry of Truth.

The Ministry of Truth has always been one of the most interesting parts of 1984 to me. Even its name is the opposite of what actually happens inside. It is supposed to represent “truth,” while its real purpose is to constantly rewrite records and reshape the past to match whatever the Party wants people to believe.

So instead of giving the Orwell bust a regular base, I designed my own interpretation of the Ministry of Truth and made the architecture part of the portrait itself.

George Orwell bust featuring a sculptural interpretation of the Ministry of Truth from 1984

The Individual Against the System

I’ve always been interested in the visual contrast between a human being and something much larger than them.

That’s why I placed a very small human figure in front of the entrance.

I wanted the building to feel massive compared to the person standing below it. The figure almost disappears against the architecture.

For me, that difference in scale wasn’t just a composition choice. It was one of the main ideas behind this 1984-inspired sculpture.

The building feels heavy, permanent and dominant, while the individual feels almost insignificant in front of it.

That is one of the feelings I have always taken from 1984: the individual surrounded by a system of power and control that is much larger than themselves.

The Beginning of My Writers Series

This George Orwell portrait sculpture is actually the first piece in a series I’m making around some of my favorite writers.

I don’t want the series to be only about making their faces.

With each portrait, I want to bring in an element from that writer’s world — something from their books, ideas, or the reason their work stayed with me in the first place.

Orwell was the first, and I’ll probably add a few more writers to the series over time.

But I don’t think my relationship with 1984 ends with this sculpture.

Since that first time I read the book, I’ve gone back to it several times. I’ve read it twice and listened to the audiobook twice as well. And I already know I’ll return to it again.

I still have other images and ideas from the book sitting somewhere in my head. Hopefully, at some point, I’ll have the opportunity to turn some of them into their own conceptual sculptures.

Finding My Own Direction

This project wasn’t a commission. There wasn’t really a business plan behind it either.

I just wanted to make it. This is also one of the personal pieces I’ve been developing in Toronto while slowly trying to find my own direction as an artist.

And maybe that is the part that matters most to me.

I’ve always been drawn to dark, quiet and oppressive atmospheres — spaces where a person feels small compared to something much larger.

Scale, isolation, architecture, silence, and that strange weight a space can have over a human figure are things I keep coming back to.

Lately, I’ve been realizing that this may be a direction I want to explore more deeply in my own work, especially through conceptual and figurative sculpture and the relationship between the human figure, architecture and monumental scale.

I don’t know exactly where that will lead yet, and I don’t think I need to.

Finding that language is part of the fun for me.

For now, this George Orwell sculpture is simply a starting point — the first piece in my Writers Series, and maybe the first step toward some of the other ideas I’ve carried with me from the world of 1984 for years.

Let’s see where it goes.