Looking back over many years of making sculpture, it is apparent that I have worked with numerous diverse ideas that have required the use of a wide range of processes and materials. In some of my early work, the passage of time was a recurring interest and the resulting sculptures were kinetic and even involved the use of pyrotechnics. These evolved into static sculptures obsessively crafted in hard woods. Depending on the concepts involved, most familiar sculptural materials have been employed. These include bronze, wood, clay, plaster and stone. Some of the larger sculptures can take many months to complete and are technically quite challenging.  Once finished, I have found it refreshing to return to a quicker, more experimental and direct approach. Over the last few years I have found that paper enables me to do this.

The use of paper offers the opportunity to return to a childhood sense of play. For many people paper was the first material they manipulated into three dimensions at school. I started using pulped newsprint which encouraged a more intuitive and less contrived approach. If the sculpture didn't’t work out, it was easy to recycle more newspapers into pulp. I found I could cast pulp off the surfaces of some of my existing stone sculptures which enabled me to make complex forms that were quite strong but very light and these could be combined in unexpected ways. The dark hollow interiors suggested the possibility of developing ideas related to aspects of time and space proposed by current theories of physics. I had found a way of creating my own universes and the extraordinary sensation of viewing a myriad of stars on a clear night.

My most recent work in Mulberry paper is the result of being invited to take part in this exhibition by the Richards of Cannon/Bullock who traveled all the way to my remote village in South West England to see my work, having viewed it on my webpage. They set me a challenge to see what I could do with their Mulberry paper.

This prompted me to make a series of thin and very light sculptures some of which are partly influenced by ancient Egyptian vessels made of translucent stone that I saw during a Churchill Travelling Fellowship in Egypt. They are particularly responsive to different light conditions, sometimes looking solid and at other times becoming semi- transparent. I am grateful for the opportunity to develop a new body of work in an unfamiliar material which has added a fresh and unexpected direction to my sculpture.

Thanks for the chance to play.

Bio

Chris Dunseath was born in Northern Ireland. He trained at Gloucestershire College of Art, Cheltenham and was then a postgraduate sculpture student at The Slade School of Art, London, followed by a Sculpture Fellowship at Cardiff College of Art. He has combined working as a professional sculptor with teaching and from 1974-99 was Associate Senior Lecturer & Head of Sculpture at Coventry University & Visiting Lecturer at various other faculties, including The Royal Academy Schools, London. In 1980 he established his studio in a converted cow barn in the small village of Hinton St. George in Somerset in South West England.

Mr. Dunseath has been involved in many solo and group exhibitions. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Chris Dunseath: Parallel Universe’ Brewery Arts, Cirencester, Gloucestershire & ‘Chris Dunseath: Other Dimensions’ The Phillips Gallery, Brewhouse, Taunton. Recent group exhibitions include ‘18@108 Paper’, Royal British Society of Sculptors, London; ‘Art London’, Royal Chelsea Hospital, London; ‘RWA Sculpture Exhibition’, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol; ‘The Discerning Eye’, The Mall Galleries, London; ‘Contemporary Sculpture’ Rollo Contemporary Art, London.

Mr. Dunseath is a Fellow of The Royal British Society of Sculptors and a Winston Churchill Traveling Fellow for Sculpture.  During this fellowship he worked in Egypt. In 2007 he was the prize winner at ‘The Royal West of England Academy Sculpture Exhibition and winner of the ‘Millfield Summer Show.’ He has work in various public and private collections including Arts Council England; South West Arts; John Makepeace Ltd; The Ackerman Foundation, New York; The Dame Stephanie Shirley Collection, Berkshire; The Henry Moore Institute, Leeds; University of Leicester; and The Met Office, Exeter.