Statement of Intent

I intend to produce a Sculpture/installation for my final piece. The installation will be a 'Hoarder's Treasure Chest', by this I mean a trunk displaying a combination of existing objects alongside a series of small sculptures. The size of this will be approximately ...

I would like my piece to be displayed downstairs by the entrance, possibly with elements trailing off. Wire elements and some objects will spill out then diffuse in density. I believe my piece needs this space for two main reasons: Firstly, it is practical as there is more floor space, so in terms of health and safety it will be easier to avoid collisions and damage. Secondly, it would be an intense piece to welcome the exhibition. It should engage the viewers with it's immediate intensity and with the sculptures trickling away along the floor it will lead people up the stairs, onto the rest of the exhibition. The position and shape of the installation will practically act as a big arrow to encourage people to explore what lies beyond.

I intend to create my final piece using a combination of found/collected objects and wire. The objects and sculptures will be based in but spilling out of a large wooden antique chest that wouldn't look out of place with the surroundings, unlike the surreal and striking contents.

My main artist inspirations and connections are Martin Senn and Michael Johansson. Martin Senn is a sculptor who creates stunningly intricate, and sometimes surreal, sculptures of everyday objects out of wire. They are highly detailed, skeletal pieces that celebrate the beauty of construction.

Michael Johansson creates distinctive, conceptual installations out of found objects, that are so impactful due to their size and use of colour. He often works very specifically to the exhibition space, usually filling alcoves, doorways and even entire walls with his compact sculptures. It's as if he is playing Tetris with everyday objects. Unlike the deliberate lack of colour in Martin Senn's work, Johansson cleverly selects his colour palettes, frequently using gradients.

My piece relates to home because I have chosen this as a way to represent what home means to a lot of people: a collection of objects with embedded memories that follow us from location to location. The idea of a hoarders treasure chest also looks deeper into how we can just as easily lose those connections as we gain them. Much like my experiment installation, my final piece will display objects old and new, to show the progression through a hoarders life and gripping attachments. As time goes on the older and probably more valuable items get buried as the habit of collecting takes over and curation becomes hoarding. The combination of collected objects and sculpture in my piece allows me to distort certain objects, turning the mundane surreal and giving a glimpse into the dilapidating mind of a hoarder. As they get older their mind becomes more fragile and their perception of these treasures is warped. An artist I looked at called Jaime Pitarch manages to perfectly represent this in his surreal adaptations of furniture.

I believe it will be an exciting submission because it will Appeal to a wide range of viewers as there will be different decades, styles and materials combined. By using the theme of hoarding it will make people stop to look deeper as perhaps it is a trait they recognise in themselves and upon looking deeper they will notice the distortions and subtle surrealism mixed with the honesty of collecting clutter as memories. The scale of this piece will Also entice visitors as a loud and busy assembly of objects will leap out against the neat and ornate structure of the town hall.