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PORTRAIT
Tom Millard works principally in
clay but has also been associated with the constructivist / kinetic
movement. He has in the past exhibited in major galleries in the United
Kingdom. |
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COASTAL PATH
The subject of the present work
refers to a continuing journey around the southwest coast of England, in
different seasons and all weathers.
The journey takes place in real time in an ever changing environment
of land and sea, but also in the recollections of experiences and
relationships.
The sculpture might be seen to represent points
of stillness and contemplation on that journey. |
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WAVE
Large vertical forms stand strong, timeless and
quite serene, and yet offer me memories of their conception as rough casts
made in stormy twilight where wind and rain almost obliterated patterns
raised by the retreating tide.Wordsworth's concept, of emotion recollected
in tranquillity, works for me here. |
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FISSURE
Millard's ceramic sculptures arise from the
artist's sense of place- his first-hand experience with "ancient
landscapes". Analogous to the forms sculpted in geological time by the
forces of wind and water near coastal Cornwall and Devon, Millard
hand-builds, washes with color, fires and then abrades clay surfaces
multiple times to render ceramic works that reflect the artist's
observations of nature's inexorable transformations.
Peter Spooner
CURATOR TWEED ART MUSEUM DULUTH MINNESOTA USA
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FOSSIL
Having employed titles such as Wave, Rock Face, Sightings, Fissure and
Sentinel, Millard intends his series of ceramic sculptures to refer
directly to actual topographical features of naturally weathered rock
surfaces and coastal formations. Conceptually, these works function as
mnemonic devices - like fossils - that recall vast time spans. By means of
craft and artful interpretation, whereby scraping and mark-making in clay
symbolise glacial time and its commensurate formations, the surfaces of
Millard's sculptures inform us of his experience amid the elements and
time.
Ron Pearson |
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SIGHTINGS
As much as the natural backdrop provides a tone
for Millard's work, other artistic precedents may be inferred from an art
history of landscape paintings, such as the atmospheres of Constable,
Millais and Turner, as well as from the land-art practices of sculptors
such as Richard Long and Andy Goldswothy. Millard's works, quiet, resonant
and unassuming as they are, seem capable of providing endless
opportunities for reflection; particularly with regard to appreciating
one's own place in nature.
PS |
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THE JOHANNA SERIES
This on-going body of sculpture is prompted by the wreck of the
cargo ship JOAHANNA at Hartland Point, North Devon. The ship was
driven on to the rocks on January 2nd 1982. There was no loss of life. |
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I don’t think there is anything particularly
romantic about wrecks many of which along this coast being of
cargo and fishing boats - both manifestations of hard and
potentially dangerous work.
Rather I was drawn to the JOHANNA as a demonstration of the
ferocious combined power of sea, weather and rock. Hartland
Point also marked a symbolic location on my journey around the
coast of the west country, where the Bristol Channel meets the
Atlantic |
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| Over the years I have witnessed the gradual
disintegration of the JOHANNA, during which she has become
almost a part of the natural landscape. The very language of
name of port and origin, Gronegen, which defined her all but
disappeared within a decade and became meaningless. And for me
this loss of identity through the obliteration of defining
language takes on a new meaning as a symbol of loss, change
and renewal. |
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RECENT EXHIBITIONS
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2001 |
HEADLAND
RBSA Galleries, Birmingham
EDGE TO EDGE
The National Trust, Botallick, Cape Cornwall |
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2002 |
RECENT
WORK
The National Trust, Botallick, Cape Cornwall |
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2003 |
NEW WORK
RBSA Galleries, Birmingham
GOODRICH PRIZE FOR SCULPTURE
RBSA Open Exhibition for Sculpture |
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2004 |
THE
SPIRIT OF LLYN
Oriel Gyln-y-Weddw, Llyn Peninsular, Wales
STANDING STONES AND FOSSILS
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
RECENT WORK
Ombersley Gallery, Worcestershire |
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2005 |
ANCIENT
LANDSCAPES IN CLAY
Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN USA |
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2007 |
A MOVING STILLNESS
RBSA Gallery, Birmingham |
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