about malcolm
Shifting Space
Shifting Space
In the beginning I have a fairly defined idea of what shape the sculpture should take; it is not imitative in intention: what I carve is not representational. The material has a determinate role: it allows for subtle shifts in volume and space. There is more to the resulting form than the actual carved shape: the form continues into the surrounding space. Shifts in planes, openings, holes, passages which create negative space are all part of the interface between the material and the surrounding space. The internal (containing) form of the sculpture is just as fundamental as the outside (boundary) form.
My employment of direct carving leads to a multiplicity of viewpoints. There is no intended imposition of form from one main point; no drawing projected onto solid matter and then teased out. A tension is created between a shape in one’s mind and the character of the material: its inherent properties, such as its tensile strength, its hardness, the bends and flaws are all taken in account when carving.
At first glance my sculptures appear to have been constructed out of separately carved pieces: they are not. They are carved from a single block or log.
My works deal with traditional questions of form, space and light. They are static objects but attempt to give an idea of movement which comes from the initial shape of the material. Objects are seen as both occupying and displacing space, but space is not a fixed, univocal notion: space both defines and penetrates an object, its perception changes with light and a viewer’s interaction or position.
The physical properties and presence of the sculptures do not limit our spatial understanding. I want to give the idea that the form of a sculpture can continue beyond its physical confines, in what I call shifting space.
In the beginning I have a fairly defined idea of what shape the sculpture should take; it is not imitative in intention: what I carve is not representational. The material has a determinate role: it allows for subtle shifts in volume and space. There is more to the resulting form than the actual carved shape: the form continues into the surrounding space. Shifts in planes, openings, holes, passages which create negative space are all part of the interface between the material and the surrounding space. The internal (containing) form of the sculpture is just as fundamental as the outside (boundary) form.
My employment of direct carving leads to a multiplicity of viewpoints. There is no intended imposition of form from one main point; no drawing projected onto solid matter and then teased out. A tension is created between a shape in one’s mind and the character of the material: its inherent properties, such as its tensile strength, its hardness, the bends and flaws are all taken in account when carving.
At first glance my sculptures appear to have been constructed out of separately carved pieces: they are not. They are carved from a single block or log.
My works deal with traditional questions of form, space and light. They are static objects but attempt to give an idea of movement which comes from the initial shape of the material. Objects are seen as both occupying and displacing space, but space is not a fixed, univocal notion: space both defines and penetrates an object, its perception changes with light and a viewer’s interaction or position.
The physical properties and presence of the sculptures do not limit our spatial understanding. I want to give the idea that the form of a sculpture can continue beyond its physical confines, in what I call shifting space.