Richard Goldsworthy presents a new series of sculptural pieces in wood and metal that have been charred, bleached and carved by hand. Richard graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a BA (Hons) in Sculpture in 2019. During his studies, Richard was awarded the RSA Barns-Graham Travel Award in May 2019 and completed a residency at Hospitalfields, Arbroath in April 2018.
‘The exploration and transformation of material has always been a crucial part of my practice. Growing up in the British countryside, I have always been drawn to nature to source the materials I work with. From this ongoing relationship I have developed my study of wood and its intrinsic qualities, as well as its behaviour when acted upon through man-made materials and tools. This juxtaposition, both enhances and transforms the natural beauty of the materials I work with. My aim as an artist is to show off these natural materials and to guide the viewer back to these resources and the meditative power of nature we tap into when confronted by it.
The process of making, for example, the selection and seasoning of the wood, as well as working with it, is as important to me as the object itself. This gives me an intimate understanding of each work, allowing me to demonstrate the different ways in which a material can be looked at and used. By burning, carving and casting the wood, I create contrasting patterns that highlight and transform the shape and surface. I choose to celebrate the defects created by these actions such as my markings, and expose the ones caused by nature such as knots, cracks and ageing. Setting metal into the wood has the potential to create a friction between these two polar materials; yet aesthetically, it appears harmonious as a single object. The alchemical quality of this fusion is solidified, for me, by the casting process, in which the metal roots into the wood, similar in which a tree root takes to the soil’. – Richard Goldsworthy.
