Artist statement
ConceptsMy work has always had an element of humour, this is especially so in my personal kinetic pieces where it seems to be an unavoidable part of the process of making animated figurative sculptures. The choice of subject material has followed various themes, but is often a take on my personal experiences of the world.
Influences
politics, culture, psychology; own cultural identity (British), mythology, humour
Career path
When I left school I went into engineering for a while, then via a foundation course into a ceramics degree at Cardiff. My interest in figurative work and machinery has led me to my current position. I was a technician at Sheffield art college for 10 years. A combination of a big commission, redundancy and the enterprise allowance scheme in the late 1980s enabled me to start to become established as a freelance artist. Since then I have been involved in various activities, initially quite a lot of street theatre work which I am still sometimes involved in, and more recently a combination of commissioned pieces, personal work sales and education projects.
Current and forthcoming events
- April - June 2013: Beastly Machines, Quarry Bank Mill, Styal Cheshire (more info)
- July - September 2013: Beastly Machines, Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery, Doncaster (more info)
- September - November 2013: Beastly Machines, Bodelwdden Castle Gallery, Rhyl (more info)
Solo exhibitions
- 2011 Beastly Machines-touring exhibition, 20-21 Viual Arts Centre, Nationwide tour, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- 2006 Manic Mechanics, The Museum of Lancashire Life, Preston
- 2006 Mechanical Animals, Warrington Art Gallery, Warrington
- 2004 Machinations, Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Bolton
- 2004 Mechanical Menagerie, South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire
- 2001 Gullibles Travels, Swindon
- 2000 Manic Mechanics, Gardner Arts Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton
- 2000 Manic Mechanics, Wolberhampton City Art Gallery
- 1999 Machinations, York City Art Gallery, York
- 1998 Ice and Fire, figurative ice machine for Birmingham Arts Fest 1998
- 1998 Mythconceptions, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno
- 1998 Three Horn Concerto, Princes Quay shopping centre, Hull
- 1998 Myth Whirled, Quay Arts, Hull
- 1997 Machinations, Cartwright Hall, Bradford
- 1994 Machinations, City Arts Centre, Dublin
- 1992 Party Piece, Irish Museum of Modern Art
- 1991 Fire and Ice, IMMA, Dublin
- 1988 Machinations, Mappin Gallery, Sheffield
Group exhibitions
- 2009 Rock My Boat, Scarborough Art Gallery, Scarborough
- 2007 Things That Go Bump In The Night, 20-21 Gallery, Scunthorpe
- 2005 Johnny White and Amanda Wray, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport
- 2005 Mechanical Magic, 20-21 Gallery, Scunthorpe
- 2001 Marionettes and Mechanical Sculptures, Exhibition with marionette maker Rowena Clarke. Part of the Silkeborg Festival of Wonder at Kunst Centret Silkeborhg Bad, Denmark
- 2001 Up and Running, Kinetic show to open 20-21, a new art centre in Scunthorpe
- 2000 The Ship of Fools, Joint installation with Amanda Wray, Quay Arts, Hull
- 1999 Animal magic, National Museum and Gallery, Cardiff
- 1998 Devious Devices, Croydon Clocktower and tour
- 1997 Fireball, Theatre of Fire Project, Dublin
- 1996 Carnival of Creation, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno
- 1996 Telling Tales, Wrexham Library Arts Centre
- 1995 Street Orchestra, with Theatre of Fire, Luxembourg and Maidenhead
- 1995 The Man Made Man, Mid Pennine Arts, Burnley
- 1994 Garden Truck, with External Combustion, Cardiff Big Weekend
- 1994 Frankenstein Set, Theatre of Fire, Touring
- 1994 Art on the Move, Wysing Arts
- 1993 Birthday Party, with Theatre of Fire,Trans-Europe Halles, Brussels, Belgium
- 1993 Grotto, Walk The Plank,Theatre Ship
- 1992 Footsteps to the Forest, Major Road Theatre
- 1992 Automata, Royal Festival Hall
Residencies
- 2005 Clever Claverly Robots, Claverly School, Shropshire
- 2001 Ziel 1=Kunst=Ziel 1, Cselley-Mühle, Oslip, Burgenland, Austria
Public commissions
- 2009 Heads will Turn, The Winter Gardens, Sheffield
- 2009 The Lantern of Arden, North Arden Heritage Trail, Astley village green
- 2009 Cultural Jigsaw, Rotherham Council, Saint Annes roundabout subway, Rptherham
- 2008 Leaf Cutter Ant, The Riddle Trail/ Off The Shelf festival, Sheffield Botanical Gardens
Projects
- 2008 Come in number 24, your time is up, The Slow Art Trail/ Chrysalis Arts, Bolton Abbey North Yorkshire
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2010 Beastly Machines-touring exhibition, Arts Council England, Grants for the Arts-National activities
Web links - gallery/work/projects
Personal website
