Q & A with Adrian Swinstead
Location: Maulden, Bedfordshire
Discipline: Woodwork
Creative Practice/Process:
My creative processes stem from my love of the material,
prehistoric bog-oak. My designs are born of a desire to present these
extraordinary pieces of tree that have remained underground for 5000 years. The piece of tree; it’s shape, it’s texture, lead the design process.
My driving force is to present the tree; creating pieces that are highly distinctive while respecting the natural beauty of its form.
I will often live with a piece of tree in the workshop until it reveals how I should use it.
Short Bio:
Qualifications:
Hornsey College of Art – BA Fine Arts
Slade School – Master Fine Art
Awards:
Central Bedfordshire Innovations November 1998
Exhibitions:
1995 Werner Krakora Gallery in Vienna, solo exhibition
1999 Cluny Abbey in Cluny, Burgundy, France, joint exhibition with 1 sculptor of bog oak
2015 The Gallery in Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, solo exhibition
November 2022/ September 2023 Artist in Residence, No1 Fitzroy London W1, solo exhibition
Media:
‘Ancient Trunks, Modern Lines’ by Ruth Bloomfield, Wall Street Journal, 26th September 2014
‘Love Trees’ Interiors www.fabric.com March 2012
‘Spotlight’ Matchbox, West London Edition, May 2011
‘Going with the Grain’, Angela Neustatter, The Independent, 26th November 2010
Food and Home,Telegraph Magazine, 6th November 2010
‘In the Studio with Adrian Swinstead’, Meghan Edwards, VandM.com, 25th October 2010
‘How to Spend It’, Lucia Van der Post, Financial Times, 11th August 2010
- Your Influences and motivations:
I am motivated to make pieces that retain a strong sense of the tree, incorporating the natural shape and texture of the timber. My work is a homage to the tree.
Adrian Swinstead, Bog Yew-Root Shelf, Woodwork, 38cmx32cmx20cm, £550.Bog Oak Spire, In situ.
- See works for sale at MADE London