Locating Unit Artist Inspiration

My main source of inspiration for both of my projects this unit has been sculpture. Wanting to move away from the rigid confines of the geometry aspect of the last unit, this time I wanted to focus on shape, curves and movement.

I was instantly drawn to the fluid, lyrical contours of Henry Moore’s sculptures. I am fascinated by the way he creates figures without features or typically human forms, which still evoke the emotions and body language of real people. Linking to this focus on shape and form I studied the drawings and sculptures by Jean Arp which inspired me to study the outlines and positive and negative space in my drawings.

Henry Moore sculpture at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Barbara Hepworth has always inspired me through her skill at creating beautifully composed sculptures in materials which ground her works in nature. I particularly love the contrast between the bold cut out shapes and lines in her work and the textured elements of the bronze, wood and other materials she sculpts with. The emphasis on shape and space in her work has inspired me to include paper cutting and other methods of layering cut out spaces in my work.

Barbara Hepworth Sculpture at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Paper cutting is one of my favourite techniques and Rob Ryan is an artist who has long inspired me in this area. His intricately cut designs are delicate but striking and I love the narrative contained in each one of his works. His practice has encouraged me to work hard at achieving neatly cut samples and consider how my designs will work as paper cut pieces.

One of Rob Ryan's intricate paper cut designs.

Tracy Kendall’s bespoke wallpaper designs have encouraged me to be more adventurous with my own wallpaper outcomes, and to think about including more tactile qualities which can then be translated into two-dimensional wallpaper designs. I love the way she has taken an everyday item which we all have in our homes and re-imagined it to be more interactive and enhancing.

Tracy Kendall's bespoke wallpaper.

Along with Tracy Kendall I have looked at the work of Girli Concrete, a company which creates concrete wall coverings infused with fabrics such as linen and velvet and embroidery. It is the ultimate combination of hard and soft, industrial and home-made and traditional and innovative. I have been inspired by their work to work on stitching and weaving into my paper printed samples. If I had more time on this project, I would love to explore combining contrasting material, such as plastic and fabric in a similar way.

Antony Gormley’s interactive outdoor installations have also inspired me to work in a more bespoke way and encouraged me to make three-dimensional samples which I have never done before. Going out of my comfort zone in this way has pushed my practice and I hope to take this even further in future projects.

Velvet-infused concrete by Girli Concrete.

Tara Donovan’s nature inspired sculptures have been hugely influential to me in this project. I love the way she uses ordinary materials like paper plates and Styrofoam cups to create large scale installations. This inspired me to work with paper, an everyday material, to make unusual and organic forms.

Tara Donovan's organic, curved sculpture (Untitled) which inspired much of my 3D work.

These are just a few of the artists who have influenced my work during this unit, but perhaps the most significant in terms of the directions I have taken and my outcomes. I have also been inspired by architecture and nature in creating flowing and curvaceous forms in my drawing and modelling work, as well as technology like 3D printing to create digital forms which echo movements and lines found in nature.