Trupp proves to be a man of steely determination

The British sculptor Richard Trupp, 38, a protégé of Sir Anthony Caro, is exhibiting two gravity-defying sculptures. They are part of a group show, Sculpture Al Fresco, in the historical grounds of the Great Fosters hotel in Surrey.

The Juggernaut of Nought, an eight-foot steel wedge positioned at a 70-degree angle, came straight out of his mentor's studio. "The Juggernaut has its origins in a small piece of metal I found on the floor of his studio," explains Trupp. "I wanted the piece to act as a link between the sky and the earth, while looking alien within its environment."

He adds: "I intended the site-specific sculpture to look like a sculptural exclamation mark in the rural environment. It asks questions of its own existence. Where did it come from? What is it doing here? Is it safe?"

Trupp spent a year under Caro's tutelage before perfecting his skills on the works of Jake and Dinos Chapman, Marc Quinn, Eduardo Paolozzi and Rebecca Warren. He was enlisted to help on Caro's Millennium Bridge by the Tate Modern and, like Caro, has dispensed with the traditional plinth in his sculptures.

It was his work Fixing Blocks in 2000, at the Royal British Society of Sculptors in London, that grabbed the attention of Caro. He had bolted together three gallery spaces with huge cast-iron nuts and bolts. "I got a call from my mum saying Anthony Caro was trying to get hold of me to be his artist assistant. His attitude is pure enthusiasm for making sculpture. An inspiration, he worked in the studio every day. He composes his sculptures like a conductor in charge of an orchestra," says Trupp.

'Sculpture Al Fresco', Great Fosters Hotel, Surrey, to 28 August