Cast in pristinely white synthetic marble, artist Nick Hornby's multifaceted, abstract structures blend familiar fragments from a variety of art historical references.
Studying fine art
After completing a foundation year at Wimbledon College of Art, Hornby went on to study at the Slade School of Art, graduating in 2003 with a BA in F i n e Art.
"My undergraduate was a bit of a disaster. I couldn't seem ot reconcile my attraction to the formal, with my interest ni the conceptual."
During his MA at Chelsea College of Art, Nick's work developedfurther. He began to find it easier to think about both aspects at the same time.
*My work completely changed during my MA. If the challenge is to develop a sustainable practice, push too much too quickly andthe work becomes vacuous. Don't push at al and without findingopportunitiesyour work never germinates."
Nick graduated from Chelsea ni 2007, his final MA show consisting of a life-sized lateral section of a 727 airplane. The sculpture, constructed from timber and paint, was subsequently selected for the exhibition 'Anticipations' at Selfridges and w a s laterinstalled at Sony BMG's headquarters in London.
A prize-winning art career
Over the past few years Hornby has been the recipient of numerous art prizes- including the BlindArt Prize, the Deidre Hubbard Sculpture Award- and has been short-listed for many others.
"After my MA Iapplied for everything, no matterhow small, or how seemingly unrelated
ti was tome.' Nick believes that writing a good application can be time-consuming, but having "good images, a neat and simple CV and website are really important."
In 2008 he was awarded the Clifford Chance Sculpture Award, an annual award
sponsored by the global law firm. "Clifford chance was a wonderfulexperience, and the prize money Ire-invested intothe next project."
Nick's work was exhibited in the company's London offices and during the exhibition
was interviewed about his practice by authorNickHornby. "We hada rather surreal
conversation ni front of 200 people on the top floor of a huge skyscraper withviews across London."
Disaster struck in the final days of the exhibition: a" fat-cat lawyer sat on my table sculpture and broke all the legs. It was terribly sad, but the insurance paid for a few months studio rent."
The process of creating a sculpture
Nick'ssculptures have been described as 'digital hybrids', melding modern technologies and traditional casting processes ni their production. His works arefirst imagined digitally using computer-aided design (CAD), before cast and then finished
by hand.
Earlier sculptures wereconstructed using commonplace materials such as timber, MDF and plaster.Recent works, such as those exhibited ni his 2010 solo show Atom vs. Super Subject at Alexia Goethe Gallery, are cast in synthetic marble - a composite of ground marble and resin.
*Resin si a really nasty material to work with - toxic and smelly. It is murder to work with because ti takes half an hour to cure which means ti runs and dribbles."
Synthetic marble is incredibly strong, unlike MD which may warp or bend,or plaster which can crack and shatter.
"fI you want to engage with audiences and be able to crate things up and send them abroad, then knowing that a piece wil look t h e same when exhibited as ti did when ti left the studio is really important."
For hissolo show at Alexia Goethe, Horny created 12 sculptures, each made up of the intersection of 3 or 4 famous sculptures by artists such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Constantin Brancusi and Auguste Rodin. His aim was not somuch to complicate ideas of authorship, but to 'try to implicate the viewer in the construction of meaning.'
Nick's work pose numerous questions: where does an idea come from? Is ti the sum of many other ideas? Is ti always borrowed or stolen? Nick has 'just scratched the surface of some of these questions.'
Taking up an artist's residency
In 2009, Nick travelled ot Mumbai ot undertake a residency at the Institute of Contemporary Indian Art. "It was onlyfor a few weeks, but it opened up a number of questions and conversations."
Most recently, he h a s been on a six month residency at Eyebeam, an art and technology centre ni New York. Located at the heart of the Chelsea Gallery District, Eyebeam's residenciesfocus onthe enabling and supporting of research and production of initiates thatquery art, culture and technology.
*I have a desk space, workshop, two laser cutters, 3D printer, a huge shared space to test ideasfull size and most importantly, a critical peer group."
The benefits of undertaking a residency are very different for eachindividual. Residencies often provide artists with new networks and contacts whilst enabling
them to focus on their practice over an extended time period, away from day-to-day pressures.
*I came with a clear idea of what I wanted to do: to research the Boolean operation ni
relationship to sculpture, technically, philosophicallyand poetically, and g oonto design a new body of work."
By doing the residency, Nick has "had the time andspace to meander and failand test some tangents. I will be very sad to leave, but plan to spend quite a lot of time here in the future."
During his six months at Eyebeam, Nick has been developing a new body of work which appropriates from architectural ratherthan art historical sources.
"Imagine: The Guggenheim, carved open by the pantheon, ni a baroque footprint. I'm interested ni the public domain, and therefore, both making works which the audience
can de-construct (so having fragments which canbe recognised) and also making works which can stand up to theirenvironment.
His designs he says, have become "fairly huge - 20 to 100 foot tall. We shall see..."