tom hackett sculpture

about           tom hackett is a sculptor based in the united kingdom

work synopsis

My work manages to visually arrest and conceptually engage audiences from a broad age and life spectrum without watering down my creative intentions. This knowledge is based upon repeated public venue feedback and direct viewer encounter. This is due in part to my embrace of the visually uplifting and the aesthetics of the decorative as an entry strategy embedded within work. This creates observer intrigue and attention which is then consolidated with the exploration of concepts and issues beyond the surface. These initially seductive qualities, which appeal on primary encounter, are then playfully subverted by the coding, associations, and confounding complexities brought to the fore by closer scrutiny. I desire to generate work, which resists singular interpretation and creates viewer interplay on many layers. Taken one by one, each level of encounter can stand alone but is also intended catalyse other tangential readings.  Holistically viewed the function of these formal, aesthetic and spatial triggers is to provide a reflexive springboard for sensation, stimulus and contemplation, rather than plot a path to interpretative closure. There is a deliberate application of play and dislocation within my work embracing an aesthetic where things are frequently recognizable in an object sense, but are trans-coded and confounded by their material properties, multiple replication, context and scale.

There is a regular element of collaboration in my work, with the collection and contribution of matter and information from local communities and wider cultural constituencies. This works towards establishing a climate of trust and shared ownership between myself and host situation. I am committed to the formal and spatial activation of the showing context as a core given essential as well as taking on the space or site conceptually, be it white cube space or public locale. My more recent work is generated by reflection and enquiry into the balance between ourselves and our placement through systems of language, translation, regulation, and social grouping. As a parent this has a particular current reflection on the complexities of early years experience.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

the silicone boys                      2009 published by 20-21 visual arts centre

risk @ssessment                     2005 published by MAC, Birmingham

Text & Work                           Essay by Steven Adams published by Arts Institute Bournemouth  

The Textual Triptych                Edited by Mathew Shaul, Text Steven Adams 2003 published by UH press 

The Physical Letters                 2000 Text Deborah Dean, Interview with Robert Clark published Angel Row 

Afon                                        2000 Text by Martin Barlow published by Oriel Mostyn Gallery      

Visionfax                                  1996 Edited by John Brady Visionfest, Liverpool

SELECTED REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS/COVERAGE

Sculpture & Installation magazine   Art Review   AN Magazine  The List Magazine  BBC Scotland BBC Radio

London-Robert Elms show   Metro Magazine  The Independent   Live Art Magazine  The Guardian  Central TV

Birmingham Post  Chemistry in Britain  Western Mail Radio Wales   Southern Cross Magazine  Channel 1

TV   South London Press  Hybrid Magazine   Artscene magazine   BBC Wales   Tyne Tees/Border ELEMENTS 

Yorkshire TV   BBC North    BBC East   Red Dragon Radio   Radio York   Radio Scotland     Radio Trent 

Sheffield Telegraph   Wandsworth Guardian   Sheffield Star  Yorkshire Post   Nottingham Post  Wales on Sunday 

Daily Post   BBC Hereford

Selected installation projects (solo unless indicated)