Discipline
Abstract
Installation / Land / Site-specific
Other
Material
Bronze
Iron
Metal (other)
Mixed media
Wood/Paper
Region
Scotland
Biography
There are three distinct areas of my art practice: Growing Sculpture, Sculpture and Drawing.
I started growing sculpture in an allotment in Nottingham as part of my MA. When I moved to the Scottish Borders (1993) we made a garden and this re-started my interest. ‘Growing Sculpture’ is a phrase which reflects the nature of the sculpture. I have used trees, bulbs and heather in these works
My most recent growing sculptures (7) involving objects and trees are at Marchmont House, Scottish Borders.
Skyboat – A boat suspended in the air on a frame with 7 Oak trees planted beneath. The trees are trained to cradle the boat and eventually they will take the weight and the frame can be removed. All these growing projects will develop and change over many years. There isn’t a final finishing point for these works.
My (“static”) sculpture use a variety of materials cast-iron, bronze, lead and wood. In all these pieces a section of tree is the start-point. The largest of these sculptures Dancing Tree and Midslice are in cast-iron. An ash tree was sliced into three, forming the basis for the two sculptures, cast and re-assembled with external flanges and bolts. The two sculptures are part 'natural' part 'industrial' and are installed at Marchmont
My Drawing is a very important element of my practice.
The drawings are large (153cm square), realised in layers of pencil, wax and gouache. The drawings start with a square, chosen for its stability, calmness and because it doesn't have the association with landscape or portrait. In the last few years I have been moving from more gestural expressionist work toward a quieter contemplative form without narrative or direct observation, looking beyond physical matter to the invisible energies, the basic form of things. These drawings are ‘rooted’ in a grid formation if only loosely. Overlayingstructures of irregular spatial elements. I think of my drawing as a form of organic geometry.
The final element of my sculpture relates to my drawings on paper. I have made a series of wax and paper or wax and household rubbish sculptures which I define as three dimensional drawings.
I am represented by Messums .org
Stone Cracker and other Stories by Dominic Clemence. The 5 minute video covers much of my growing sculpture and sculpture installed in the grounds of Marchmont House Berwickshire. The late Hugo Burge and I collaborated over the last 5 years to make this happen. It is part of a much larger project to support and promote the arts and the crafts in Southern Scotland and internationally, including: residencies, workshops, seminars, studios and many installed sculpture in the grounds. The legacy of Hugo is being continued through the Hugo Burge Foundation and Marchmont House/Marchmont Farms.