Black Chest, 1988

While Andrew Holmes’s work fits in with today’s environmental concerns and the obvious benefits of recycling, his influences forty years ago were artists who used found materials for their intrinsic qualities. His materials are carefully chosen for their colour and provenance, and relevance to the piece being constructed. Coming to Stoke on Trent in 1974, Andrew Holmes found a cornucopia of material in the slum clearance areas where nineteenth century workers’ houses were being demolished. He uses the inherent qualities of this material to make assemblages and constructions – totems and cupboards which are warm memorials to the past. His pieces always invite involvement from the spectator with their opening doors, drawers and folding parts.