Artist’s Statement
Energy, Matter and the Milky Way.
This exhibition of over fifty Art works includes Prints, Sculpture and combinations of the two disciplines.
Two substantial works featured are ………
‘A Part of The Milky Way as viewed from a Well on Cliff Lane, Bempton’
which consists of fourteen large Prints from a naturally etched 1.1 metre square steel plate.
A suite of representations, of a small portion of our own galaxy.
BROOM SPIRAL
Thirteen chimneysweep’s brooms spiral out of a porthole, they stay tightly together in a concentric swirl. Their arrangement does appear similar to that of a spiralling galaxy.
The long brooms have been embellished with tape and colourful bristles.
They fizz like fireworks, the original four or five of these swirling brooms were inspired by the film “Mary Poppins” and represented a fusion of chimney sweep’s brooms and fireworks that the Old Admiral aimed at the dancing chimney sweeps on nearby roof tops.
Artworks in this Exhibition are representative of my recent ideas and interests.
‘Celestial drama within The Cosmos’,
and
‘Artefacts with Indeterminable Functions’
Portholes provide access to enclosed spaces, and vantage points to view the vastness of space.
CELESTIAL VIEWS 1 & 2
Domestic objects put together to feature portholes which enable you to look into the voids of the assemblage.
Oversized etchings of our Universe are curled into a concave half pipe and slotted into the space within the construction.
These are viewed through the porthole from a breadth of vantage points and an illusion of wrap around space can be experienced.
Re-assigned objects are embellished with Lino printed images of familiar objects in disguise.
TWO SPOONS
Foundry ladles and a large red exercise ball have been brought together to demonstrate how a spherical object can be held in position by the force of gravity.
Like the planets in our solar system.
TRUCK
Originally made to relate to a fireplace, this sculpture has been reworked to function as a wall suspended.
This body of recent work has been made to be shared:
colourful and mischievous, it is an extension of my playful self.
Andi Dakin March 2022
QUARANTINE 1&2
This pair of urinals from the Armitage Shanks factory which nautical portholes fit perfectly over the basin apertures, inside the urinals, in isolation are ‘Space Urchins’,
These can be safely viewed through the glazed portholes.
ROSE
Made to sit inside the arch of a clear glazed Victorian window, the rose of watering cans posed as a stained glass rose.
The configuration of garden related objects is sufficiently strong for the rose to be presented in a range of alternative contexts.
The sculptural aesthetic of this assemblage means that it still looks good away from the
companionship of the arched window.
BAIT
A collection of objects that use the force of gravity to retain their relationship with each other. The objects have been reassigned to engage in functional rolls that they were not designed to perform.
PRINCESS
A battered old wheelbarrow was rescued from scaffolders was galvanised and made to appear shiny and new.
Proudly standing high on a pair of pointy pitch forks Princess has an aloof attitude which reinforces her promotion in status:
from the wheelbarrow at the end of its scaffolding career to the shiny larger than life Princess.
BUNKER
A reclaimed, reassigned coal bunker becomes the new home for anthracite ovoids.
The Bunkers warm rusty surface has been varnished and embellished with many six inches square lino printed images.
These images are of Artefacts that have had their functional identity camouflaged,
they look familiar whilst being enigmatic.
The blue golf tees are referencing the blue flames of burning anthracite which is an important ingredient in the smokeless fuel ovoid.
BIN
A garden waste incinerator bin, attached to the wall with turned wooden handles,
pom-pom balls plug the draught holes and lino printed images of ‘Artefacts with Indeterminable Functions’ cover the exterior and interior surfaces,
with cool light colours on the outside, and richer darker colours on the inside.
The zinc shine on the inside of the bin enhances the visual drama of the enclosed space. Qualities that shift the association of the galvanised bin away from its original function.
A successful re-assignment of an Artefact.
SPUD BALLS
Old lathe turned wooden balls, once used in an outdoor game have been studded with white golf tees.
The balls reminded me of potatoes, the golf tees skewering them appear to be pushed into the ‘potato’ like the features of the spud decorating game ‘Mr Potato Head’.
I made this sculpture in acknowledgement of my first crop of homegrown potatoes.
Andi Dakin 