‘Natures Forms’ Joel Bird at The Coach House, Calderstones Park15 – 21 February 2010
For this exhibition Joel focuses more on our harmony with the natural world. The works show landscapes and people interacting with their environments. The lines of flux and flow are an attempt to reconcile our duality as nature has.
“I visualize magnetic fields, knots in wood or water erosion in rock. To me they also represent how our subconscious relationship with our memories and feelings determine how we see the present moment. “
“Also included in the Exhibit are five of my bird sculptures all of which are associated both with The British Isles and with Pennsylvania. I am a lifelong bird watcher and try to express the individual birds personalities in my work. I use rock formations as an inspiration; a recent study of volcanic rock took me kayaking to the island of Staffa on the West Coast of Scotland which influenced some of this work. I take time with both my sculptures and my paintings; I want my sculptures to have been ‘eroded’ naturally and my paintings to ‘grow’ slowly and steadily. In this way time becomes a part of them, like slow grown wood or evolution, they are stronger creative pieces.”
“My involvement with the art extends also to both the construction of the frames and the molding and casting of the sculptures. I have worked as a carpenter, a printer and in concrete molding; I consider the skills of craft and its relationship to the ‘quality’ of art interesting. Most humans have a natural talent for concept or for craft, but not always for both, I find the marriage of these best expresses my belief that art represents the indestructible link between working creative humans and nature. Because of this belief in nature as a source of creation I would say my work is compared mostly to The Austrian Abstract Expressionists and members of the Wiener Werkstätte as well as ‘original’ art such as Maori, Native American and Inuit. “
This is a good chance to see this work before it goes to America, On Joel’s last visit in 2008 he sold work to private and public collections in Philadelphia, Allentown, Daytona, Florida and New York. He has also exhibited throughout England and Scotland and applications for residencies in Europe has achieved a recent invite to the Florence Biennial.
This exhibition will then tour Tyme Gallery, Philadelphia, USA (12th March – 6th April)
For more information please visit my website www.JoelBird.com
or email: joelbird@joelbird.com
Venue details:
Coach House Gallery, Calderstones Park , Liverpool
Joel Bird