Next Artist......

CHRIS DUNSEATH

When I first encountered Chris Dunseath's elegant sculptures they immediately offered themselves as conduits to another world: a world of secrets, yet to be revealed but not closed off. They are indeed very open and inviting, drawing the viewer in, almost as if they have another dimension that speaks to the inarticulate part of ourselves. In fact when I envisage Dunseath's works now, I imagine them with an invisible legion of arms, hands, antenna - whatever - that seek to pull you in, to encourage you to engage further. It is almost as if they have a life and soul of their own.

Dunseath shares the concerns of many sculptors: space, time and mass, but by taking inspiration from much of mans' phenomenal discoveries in physics he has managed to create beautiful objects that have carved their own visual language. The delicacy of the inspirational links and imaginative leaps that some physicists make are often seen in Dunseath’s works by the fragile positioning of slender, narrow connectors (Holly Reversal 2010). In this instance, Dunseath has worked directly from the hypothetical nature of wormholes (a wormhole is a ”shortcut” through spacetime. Dunseath's use of materials is interesting, time over, he uses natural materials that remind us that these physical phenomena are grounded in our planet, our world.

Dunseath extends his investigation into the deep realms of relativity and quantum physics and creates his own personal articulations of some of the ideas that surround parallel universes, matter, anti-matter and wormholes. In “Upright Universe” and “StarTower” he creates almost pagan shapes that hold secret hidden universes, full of stars that serve to remind us that we are made from matter first created in stars. Often made from newspaper pulp or Mulberry paper his use of material reminds us of the importance of earthly things that have their roots deep in time and space.

Ingrid Hinton 2010

Star Tower
2009, Mulberry paper
85cm x 50cm x 36cm

Education

The Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London, H.Dip.FA(Lond)
BA(Hons), Gloucestershire College of Art & Design, Cheltenham
1975 to 1999 Associate Lecturer, Head of Sculpture, Coventry University, Coventry

Awards
2010 Elected Academician, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2009 The Cannon/Bullock Purchase Award, SPP Foundation, Washington State USA
2009 SPP Foundation Host Committee Purchase Award, SPP Foundation, Washington State USA
2008 Winner of The Marshwood Vale Magazine Arts Awards, Allsop Gallery, Bridport Arts Centre, Bridport
2007 'Prize Winner', 19th Summer Show, Atkinson Gallery, Millfield.
2007 'Reflections Award for Design Innovation', Open Sculpture, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2001 Fellow of The Royal British Society of Sculptors, The Royal British Society of Sculptors, London
1992 The Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship for Sculpture, Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, Egypt
1973 Sculpture Fellowship, Cardiff College of Art and Design, Cardiff

Selected Recent Exhibtions
2010 'Celebrating Paper', Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2009 'The London Group Open Exhibition 2009 Part 2', The Menier Gallery, Southwark Street, London.
2009 'RWA 157th Autumn Exhibition', Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2009 'Babel', Blackall Studios, Shoreditch, London
2009 '18@108 Paper', Royal British Society of Sculptors, London
2009 'Millfield Summer Show', Atkinson Gallery, Millfield, Street, Somerset
2009 New Brewery Arts Open 'Crossings', New Brewery Arts, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
2009 'The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2009', Royal Academy of Arts, London
2009 'The Cannon/Bullock Paper Works Invitational', Museo Gallery, Langley (Seattle) USA
2008 'Marshwood Vale Arts Awards Exhibition', Allsop Gallery, Bridport Arts Centre, Bridport, Dorset

Upright Universe
2010, Paper pulp
180cm x 52cm x 52cm

Corrugated Space
2010, Mulberry paper
45cm x 29cm x 48cm

Black Holes
Paper pulp
50 X 50 x 30 cm

Another Universe (interior)
Paper pulp
51cm x 51cm x 21cm

It's Full of Stars
2009, Paper pulp
39cm x 36cm x 35cm