Simon Gaiger
Simon Gaiger's sculptures are simultaneously human and landscape, narrative and abstract. They are influenced by the layers of his life and surroundings; a childhood in Africa and the Pacific, time spent working as a shipwrights assistant, the sea, engineering, history and mythology, drawings and thoughts collected over many years in the piles of black and grey sketchbooks that fill his home and studio in Wales.
There is a raw tension of opposing forces in his sculptures, elements strain and pull against each other or balance precipitously. Many of them can be re-configured to make different horizons, changing the interplay of spaces within and around them, inviting participation from the viewer. Colour unifies form and accentuates the play of light. Titles too are relevant, not always in the literal sense but as another aspect of the rhythm of the piece.
His sculptures are constructed from wood and forged and welded steel, sometimes concrete. It is the energy of their forms and the universality of their themes that give them their lasting resonance.
Exhibition Highlights
1965: Born Banbury, UK. Moves to Uganda. From there spends childhood in Sudan, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Falkland Islands and Cornwall. Educated in various schools in the UK and abroad.
1983-1984: Works as a shepherd and shipwrights assistant in the Falkland Islands
1984-1985: West Surrey College of Art & Design
1987-1989: Merrist Wood Agricultural College, trains in landscape construction.
1989-1994: Designing and constructing commercial and domestic landscapes and gardens in Dorset and London. Also making sculpture and furniture.
1994: Decides to concentrate solely on making sculpture and furniture. Exhibits widely in the UK and Europe. Makes work for private and public commissions.
2003: Move to Carmarthenshire, Wales.
2008: Elected to membership of the Royal British Society of Sculptors
Circle Contemporary
Hawksfield, A39
PL27 7LR
01208 813 220 / 07931611959
lucy@circlecontemporary.co.uk
Open Monday - Saturday, 10 - 4PM