STATEMENT
The sculpture ‘A PAST REALITY’ and the three accompanying drawings in this exhibition relate to my experience, memories of and the destruction of a much-loved place, the Torryburn Hotel in Aberdeenshire. It was my home for a number of memorable years in the 1960s, and underwent many changes before it was destroyed by fire a few years back. Two trees originally stood proud at the side of the building, firmly rooted in the ground as does one of the trees in the sculpture. The second tree defies gravity and floats above the ground, symbolising the magical spirit of the place as it is given over to memory after the fire, when nothing was left standing. This explains to some degree the surreal nature of the work where the lines between the real and the unreal disappear into the sculpture. Some images from the past do not go away.
James Castle 2026
JAMES CASTLE RSA, RSS
(Born Aberdeen, 1946)
James Castle was educated at Ealing School of Art London, Winchester School of Art and the Royal College of Art. As well as exhibiting throughout the United Kingdom, James has curated exhibitions of sculpture, most notably at Gloucester Cathedral and Malmesbury Abbey. He was a senior lecturer in Sculpture and Fine Art at the University of Gloucestershire. He was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 2008, where his most recent solo show, First Light was held in 2021.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS INCLUDE
Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums
Strathclyde University
The Royal Scottish Academy
Malmesbury School
Scottish Arts Council
Wiltshire County Council
Chippenham Art Gallery and Museum