Alan Baker
Newport / Telford
I am a sculptor who likes to draw
My work is concerned with issues surrounding the interrelationship of human and animal realms. Utilising methods of sculpture and drawing, I explore the notion of ‘animal as artist/maker’ and how different species might shape, frame and make space in our everyday urban environments. As human beings, we seem to believe that our urban environments are ours, but in actuality, these spaces are a much more complex settings, involving many species.
As a starting point, I often exploit found material and construct sculptural works based on the histories and evolution of animal trapping, a process carried out for a variety of reasons whether for food and fur or for pest control or taxidermy. These works are often unstable, on the edge of falling apart. Drawing from the sculptures highlights these moments of temporality, presenting a juxtaposition of social phenomena.
The drawing offers an examination of these structural forms and considers the “boundaries of what it means to be human rather than animal” (O’Reilly 2009), addressing questions associated with the residual traces left by animals, considering the space animals inhabit. The practice aims to explore and examine this dilemma, simultaneously highlighting our own human fragilities. The works imagine and present spaces for co-existence, social situations for encounters between species.
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