Anyhow I though it would be a useful insight to publish the application text and images for anyone interested in what I am trying to achieve with my assemblage "sculptures".
Graphic Equaliser
Supporting Statement
At what point are you in your career?
I still regard myself to be early career. I started painting and sculpting in earnest five years ago after a near-fatal car accident. I am now a professional landscape painter and sculptor.
Have you established a national or international profile?
I have developed a national UK profile. My sculptures have been to London “Liberte d'Expression” exhibition and I recently gained international recognition by making the shortlist (65 out 5,000) for the London International Creative Competition.
How do you position your practice in relation to wider developments in contemporary art?
From a formal perspective my sculptures are Assemblage art. I particularly admire the work of Louise Nevelson. There is a strong conceptual element to my sculpture, often dealing with the reality of the human body and symbiotic relationship between mind and body. My approach to art is modernist in that I question the old certainties but use contemporary materials that relate to the modern world. I recognise the influence of the auteur David Cronenberg, as we share a reality grounded in the physical processes of the body.
What is distinctive about your work?
I use non-traditional materials such as plastic tubing and circuit boards, combining them in an unfamiliar way. The materials are modern but the questions arising are age-old, e.g: mind vs. body. Does consciousness disappear when the body stops? Is there a soul?
How has your work progressed over recent years?
I started by embedding electronic components into the surfaces of a canvas. From there my work has become more intricate and planned. I now carefully select materials and develop ideas in tandem, usually around contemporary themes, e.g.: “Home Bio-Analyser” is an imagined device that takes blood samples, iris measurements and ID-card readings. Nowadays I blend technological, biological and political ideas into the work as it develops.
What do you hope to gain from joining Axis?
I would like to develop connections with galleries to display my work at exhibitions. I am also interested in selling for public display or to collectors that have an understanding of my work.
Athiest's Dream
Artist Statement
My bio-electronic sculptures are meditations on medicine, technology, mortality and my strongly held rational atheist ideas. Taking electronic components and boards from disused or deliberately destroyed electronic devices my Assemblage art approach is combined with what I describe as hand crafted pseudo-biological objects made from acrylic paint, fabric and medical tubing. It is through this combination of biology and technology that I explore ideas around my relationship with technology and the processes of living including ageing and decay, using the metaphor of the body as a machine. In a way the construction of these items is catharsis and a tool for my personal acceptance of the natural biological processes beyond my control.
Exhibitions /Competitions
* 2009 - London International Creative Competition – Shortlisted (Top 65 from 5,000 entries)
* 2008 - Derby City Open - Dec 2008
* 2007 - Ovenden Exhibition - Artshed Gallery, Ware, Herts (Aug-Sept)
* 2007 - Out of Control: Solo - Gallery-S, Matlock, Derbyshire (March)
* 2006 - Liberte d'Expression - Barclays Global Headquarters (Canary Wharf) and Candid Arts Trust, London
Citizen protector (Home Bio-Analyser)
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