ABOUT
Like all artists, I have always enjoyed making things. It’s the idea of transferring something which was just a thought, into a tangible visual object which I find so addictive.
Since I can remember I have painted/sculpted/assembled all manner of things from a variety of materials, gradually moving towards sculpture as my chosen medium. Working in 3D produces objects; objects which can be viewed from different angles, seen in different lights and cast different shadows. They are tactile as well as visual, and have a real physical presence.
I often hear people expressing how they enter into the world of a painting as a way of describing their experience of it. I see sculpture as the opposite of that; the sculpture enters our world. Most of my work is about capturing a non-representational presence or rethinking conventional objects in an unconventional way.
I graduated in 1984 with a BA (hons) in Ceramics with glass and started work as a Model/mould-maker in the Potteries in Stoke on Trent. It was there that I learned about mass production and how I could get to make exactly what I wanted time and time again. A twist of fate brought me to Cornwall in 1988, and another made me redundant.
I went into business with my friend Richard in 1990 trading as Design Clinic, specialising in innovative resin-cast giftware. I designed and sculpted almost everything the company ever produced, creating a niche in the market for the fusion of styles which became the Design Clinic trademark.
I have been producing my own sculptures since 2001, selling them in galleries and solo exhibitions. Many of these works are based around casts taken from knots weathered out of dead trees. I also use casts of furniture mouldings, steel, leather, bones and shells. Recently I have been producing more figurative pieces such as “Harness” and “Urban Burka” which question our assumptions about the world and how everything fits into it.
My work has won awards in several national/international competitions including the Threadneedle Prize 2013 (Shortlisted), NOAC 2016 (Best Installation) and Passion for Freedom 2014 (Best of show). National Sculpture Awards (People’s choice) in Liverpool 2008. “Harness” toured the Royal Armouries venues throughout 2017/2018 including a 3 month residency at The Tower of London.
I am a member of The Royal Society of Sculptors, an associate member of The Penwith Society of artists, and a member of The Newlyn society of Artists in which I am a committee member.
I have two works installed at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens near Penzance