Please join me, and sixteen other artists on Saturday 3rd June 2 - 5pm for the opening reception of Lines of Empathy, an exhibition of hand drawn works on paper.

This exhibition has its genesis during the Covid lockdowns, when the artist and curator Giulia Ricci decided to explore and interrogate how, where, why and with what, the chosen artists made their drawings - the hidden side of creating these works. The in-depth artists responses have been collated into a beautiful book under the same title, and this exhibition which displays the drawings talked about by each artists in the book.

During the opening event on the 3rd June, many of the artists will be in conversation about their works and Carali McCall will make a performance drawing - not to be missed.

The drawing I have written about in the book, and which is exhibited is 06.57 Bankend 19.16, a durational day drawing tracing the shadows of an ancient Scottish rock and exploring the themes of time and transience.

Exhibition continues at CLOSE until 22nd July
Open by appointment HERE
Thurs - Fri 10am - 3pm
Saturday - 10am - 1pm

Public Talk

I welcome you all to a conversation I will have with Tim Craven where I explore my work in this exhibition and its relationship to landscape and that of my other family members, John, Ivon and Alfred.

Venue: Southampton City Art Gallery
Date: 9th February 2023
Time: Doors 1.30pm, starts 1.45pm, duration 45 minutes
Book tickets HERE

24 November 2022

Physis unleashed

Yesterday saw another outing for my sculpture Physis. Commissioned by Pfizer to open up dialogues about their advancements in oncological treatments with cancer generally, and more specifically lung cancer, this interactive sculpture has previously seen outings at the Science Museum and the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester. Yesterday was the turn of Central Hall Westminster, next to Westminster Abbey.

The evening was a success, bringing together people from the Pfizer team and different cancer charities. Everyone had a chance to actively remove some of the tentacles of this enlarged lung tumour and there by engaging with the metaphor that human intervention can help push cancer into remission, diminishing the growth of its invasive nature. Slowly this cancerous growth, which suffocates a pure white boulder host body, is waning and the beautiful natural form underneath can begin to breath.

To watch a YouTube film about its making, click HERE

9th March

This evening, at the Science and Industry Museum Manchester, my sculpture PHYSIS will be unleashed on the public. Commissioned by Pfizer to open up a conversation about the progress treatments they have made with lung cancer, this sculpture aims to shock, fascinate and provoke inquiry in equal measure.

A long time in gestation, this participatory sculpture references a parasitic lung cancer tumour with its invasive tentacles multiplying and suffocating the pure white 'plinth' that supports it. Over the course of the exhibition the audience removes pieces of the root-like tentacles and in effect makes the cancer go into remission, helping the host body begin to breath again.

In this world, but not of this world...?
Using a digitally enlarged MRI scan of a real human lung tumour as the centre of a cancerous growth, this parasitic being has, I believe, a very beautiful form. Yet its invasive tentacles are clearly suffocating the pure white host body of the boulder which supports it.

Not only does this sculpture speak of lung cancer and the ability of humans to diminish it; through their physical interaction with the sculpture by taring away the softer tentacles, and Pfizer's advances in oncology treatments, but it also references our global relationship to planet Earth.

The interconnectedness of human life and the natural world is something I have been exploring in my work for many years - the relationship between the human and the non-human, animate and inanimate. This suffocating human cancer sits atop a pure white boulder - I don't think it is too hard to see the analogy of Humankind's relationship to planet earth as cancerous.

11th June

I'm delighted to be part of this online exhibition with fellow members of the Wilderness Art Collective. "A non-profit organisation run by volunteers — a group of creatives, artists, explorers and environmentalists whose work discusses the natural world."

This exhibition was borne from the cancellation of an exhibition due to the Covid 19 lock down measures and the subsequent sense of isolation we all felt in our inability to immerse ourselves within the wild for soulful reward. It is a broad church of disciplines, but centred on each members' need to engage with the wild as a core part of their artists practice.

I am pleased to be showing two rock/flesh works and my immersive film Genesis.

Live Opening Event streamed on Facebook and Wilderness Art Collective Youtube channel: Thursday 11th June 7-8pm

Exhibition runs online: 12 June - 3rd July.

8th November

I'm delighted to be exhibiting this day drawing in a fascinating exhibition which explores how drawing is important across a range of creative practices, not just the visual arts. Drawing serves as a touchstone to the more unconscious side of our creativity and consequently is often a key into the heart of creative productivity, and even humanity.

This series of drawings are made by drawing rock shadows created by direct sunlight between sunrise and sunset. They are intense meditations on the nature of being: durational, expansive and exploring the transience of human life.

This exhibition, beautifully curated by Hand & Young, sits scientists next to artists, musicians next to architects. It is only open for a short time, but is well worth visiting.

Private view Thursday 14th November 6-8.30pm
On Thursday 21st, I and a number of fellow exhibitors will be giving practitioners talks: 6-8pm.

11am - 5pm
15th Nov - 24th Nov
Newington Gallery (part of Art Academy London)
155 Walworth Road
London
SE17 1RS

23rd June

This solo show at Cheeseburn combines all aspects of my practice: drawing, sculpture, film, photography and public art. Landscape is a clear theme which runs though the exhibition and in particular my ceaseless investigation with rock as a material and conceptual tool to explore the human condition. I am particularly pleased to be exhibiting for the first time, my day-long shadow drawings, pictured above. These have been made by continued drawing between sunrise and sunset. Other drawings and sculpture offer different ways to view this inanimate material and questions its interconnectedness with human kind. My large screened film Genesis will be viewing continuously, offering an immersive experience of landscape.

Themes of perception, duality, reflection and presence are continued in two large scale sculptures outdoors, in the beautiful grounds of Cheeseburn Grange.

As part of this exhibition I am displaying a working model and large scale images of my planned local sculpture Ascendant: The Elizabeth Landmark. The objective is to produce a contemporary landmark and cultural destination at Cold Law on the Ray Estate, which benefits the local community and economy, celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s services to the country and her life-long dedication to the Commonwealth. The success of the sculpture will grow from a sensitivity to land and place: born in form, material and presence from the majestic geography that supports it.

This exhibit explores how my public commissions are interconnected with my studio practice through materials and concepts, how I work across different mediums and scales to investigate our relationship to the planet we live upon.

I will be giving a talk about my work on the weekend of 6/7th July.

29th & 30th June, 6th & 7th July
11am - 4pm
Cheeseburn
Newcastle upon Tyne
Northumberland
NE18 0PT
cheeseburn.com
info@cheeseburn.com

30st January

Yesterday I gave a public talk about my art and ideas which rewarded me with unexpected connections between my studio practice, public commissions and fascinations around landscape. Having worked flat out for the past few months on a huge planning application for my large commission in Northumberland - Ascendant - the preparation and delivery of this talk was perfect timing, to re-examine my practice and concentrate on what is important.

Being an artist is a wonderful journey through life: being able to create my own future and have the privilege of time to spend working out what matters, then adding to that by creating new thoughts and realities. Last nights talk was easily worth all the hours and effort spent drafting it up. Here's to speaking out loud and having the courage to say it now!

11th June

GLASS - Work by Contemporary Artists

I am delighted to be showing a number of my glass works in a group exhibition at Canary Wharf over the summer and invite you to join me at the private view on 19th June. The sculptures are part of a series I made a number of years ago using transparent materials to suspend translucent forms, which explore presence, absence and perception. With works ranging in scale from the small and intimate to the mulit-tonned, among the other artists exhibited will be Lilliane Lijn, Annie Cattrell, Julian Wild and Danny Lane.

PRIVATE VIEW 19th JUNE, 6-8pm

Exhibition dates:
Monday 18th June - Friday 10th August
Open daily 7am-8pm
Free entry

Exhibition Tour with the curator Ann Elliott and a number of the artists:
Tuesday 3rd July, 6,30-7.15pm
Free, but please contact Canary Wharf Public Art Office to reserve a place.

Where:
Lobby
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5AB
T: 0207 418 2257
E: publicart@canarywharf.com