Arthur Tunnicliffe

Artist Statement

I love material. I love the physicality of materials, the way that they just are. I love the ways in which materials can contradict the way that they are perceived. Wood is stoic, yet it can grow, shrink and move. Concrete is harsh and heavy, yet it can be polished and can support delicate structures. Leather is strong and hardwearing, yet it can be moulded and supple. Metal is rigid and sterile, yet it can be bent and etched. Materials can share commonalities or they can totally reject one another. They can complement each other, or they can contrast each other. However, what I love about materials the most, is their ability to change. Some materials are able to change themselves; wood can warp and crack, whereas some materials have to be changed, concrete is just dust and rock without water. I love the unexpected ways in which matter can change matter. It is through my practice that I create an environment in which these changes can occur. I want to display the ways in which the materials can change themselves, each other and how we perceive them. When making my work I try to find ways in which the materials themselves can initiate a conversation, a reaction, a confrontation or a collision. Through these Material Experiments, I study the unique properties of the materials that I have chosen and force these attributes to create something new through change.