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Chopped wooden pieces randomly screwedtogether to make abstract forms of sculpture is at the core of a soloexhibition entitled ‘Rough Cut’ that opens on Sunday at the Al Riwaq ArtGallery in Adliya.
An intriguing large relief work displayedacross the gallery is the first of the sculptures in the debut exhibition byArtist in Residence Alan Goulbourne, 26, who is in the kingdom on a three-monthresidency funded by the Welsh Arts Council.
There are 16 larger-than-life pieces madeof wood, metal and clay on show that have been inspired by nature and society.Alan said: “Originally I was only looking at patterns and organic shapes innature. Now I have decided that I want to address humans in social situationsand at the moment I’m trying to blend the new work with the old work so I’mcurrently making figures full of energy and movement.
“There are four clay human figures. One ofthem will be the imperfect human while the other will be the perfect one. I amtrying to portray people who are always working on perfecting their looks andtrying to present themselves as flawless.
“There are two sculptures of boys who showthe duality of man. One of them is crushing an ant hill and the other isdrawing on the wall. I am showing that creation and destruction is prevalent ineverything and you cannot have destruction without creation or vice versa.”
Alan is a Cardiff-based artist who grew upin Bahrain and graduated from Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2008. He hadearly success with a commission at Chapter, an art space in Cardiff, and ashort-listing for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2008. He has exhibited ingroup shows in the UK hosted by The Open West, Tactile Bosch, Jerwood sculptureand Broomhill Sculpture parks and more recently been commissioned for theKidwelly Sculpture Park.
Alan said he was trying to carve piecesthat could be interpreted as inspiring. Lengths of wood - four metres long,have been randomly cut into different sizes. Some have even been burnt and onesculpture is made of recycled wood.
“I have a methodical process which is aboutimplementing order in chaos within the works,” he explained.
“I lose control continuously throughoutbuilding the piece. I cut the wood and then order it in piles and then fix theminto random shapes and forms.
“All throughout that stage there is theprocess where I am constantly losing and regaining control. Some of the pieceswere set on fire (safely and under supervision at a local fire station). Thefiremen put kerosene on it and lit it ... and the control is when I could askthem to stop.”
Alan has hopes his work will also drivehome an environmental point and encourage people living in the kingdom to thinkof the future and change a culture of using everything to excess and not beingsustainable.
He said: “You cannot keep on building,building and building and not caring about what happens in the next 20 years. Ichose Bahrain because I wanted to revisit my childhood and I am shocked to seethis random wastage still going on.
“It seems to be at quite a dangerous pointwhere neither the sea nor the environment is being spared.”
Former Delmon School pupil Alan leftBahrain when he was 16 and his family has long connections with the kingdom.His mother Mary lived on the island for 40 years while his dad, Paul, spent 30years here.
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