Artist Statement .My practice is a constant exploration of repetition, process and formation. Often these works explore the boundary between sculpture and architecture. Making a dialog between the two practices.
Artist Statement cont.
My practice is a constant exploration of repetition, process and formation. Often these works explore the boundary between sculpture and architecture. Making a dialog between the two practices.
I am interested in objects that engage the viewer in a bodily way, meaning I am interested objects that are of a large scale and or complex in there design. Influence has come from the architectural styles of Modernism and Brutalism. These buildings produce powerful, dominant, minimalist forms that can be visually interesting, especially from an artist point of view, with there repetitive mundane shapes becoming complex through repetition building up a complex shape.
Using repetitive shapes and forms I build up a large form that has geometry and linear values. Often these works are made from concrete. This means that the works look as if they could have existed for a long time and could exist for a long time. Using concrete asks questions about the relationship of architecture and sculpture. The mundane colour of the material allows the viewer can pay more attention to the form and structure of the work. The works almost appropriate different architectural and other functional objects and combine them together to create a hybrid.
Making on a large scale means that the viewer can have a bodily interaction with the work. I feel this is important when making work in relation architectural interventions. Being of a large scale often means exhibiting the work outside and work site specifically. It is interesting to see how sculpture inspired by architecture responds to buildings of varying architectural styles. Because of this constant exploration of form, material and location, one artwork makes the next with one sculpture inspiring the next.
While my work may look similar to some architectural forms, I am making something purely visual with no function, and with a conceptual framework that only art can have. The material, scale, form and location give my work its context and narrative, separating it from pure architecture. I believe my own artwork describes visual relationships; it is a way for me to make sense of architecture and its aesthetic values. It is a way of trying to understand abstract relationships. The difference between sculpture and architecture in my work is that architecture is the influence of my sculptural forms. The work is purely visual, with no function, but with a narrative and concept a building cannot have.
Education
The Glasgow School of Art,
Sculpture and Environmental Art,
BA (honours)
2014-2017
Leeds Arts University,
Foundation Diploma in Art and design,
2013-2014
Select Exhibitions
August 2018
Air Open
Air Art Gallery Manchester
July 2018
Composition
Lichfield Cathedral, Lichfield
June 2018
Satellite,
Hosted by Visual Art Scotland
Summerhall, Edinburgh
April 2018
RSA New Contemporary's 2018
The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
January 2018
'OPEN'
The Society of Scottish Artists
The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
November 2017
MATERILAISM
The Maclaurin Gallery, Ayr
June 2017
Glasgow School Of Art Degree Show 2017
Glasgow School Of Art
February 2017
Traces Below Stairs,
Pollok House, Glasgow
January 2017
Young Contemporys from GSA,
The Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow
November 2016
Cooperation,
Contriving Moments In Resilience and Permanence,
At CASS Art, Glasgow
March 2016 +VAT, Group exhibition at The Whisky Bond, Glasgow
June 2015
CoEqual:
A Cognative Process,
At the Old Hairdressers, Glasgow
May 2014
Knock Knock,
Leeds Arts University, End of course show
Awards
January 2018
Winner of the Emma Herman-Smith award,
At the 'OPEN' 2018
July 2017
Society of Scottish Artists (SSA),
Invited Graduate 2017
June 2017
RSA New Contemporary's Selected Artist,
Exhibition at The RSA, Edinburgh, March 2018
June 2017
Winner Of The Bruce Finnie By Distinction Award 2017
May 2017
Aesthetica Art Prize "100 Contemporary
Artists from the Aesthetica Art Prize"
Publications and Press
March 2018
Aesthetica Magazine,
Formal progression
Feburay 2018,
The Scotsman, review of the OPEN, 2018
at The Royal Scottish Academy
Febuary 2018,
Artlyst, Review of the OPEN 2018,
at The Royal Scottish Academy
June 2017
The Scotsman, review of the Glasgow
School of Art Degree show