The Cicely & Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award 2006

Simon Cottrell

Artist statement

A complex simplicity ...
A tenuous calm ...
A broken clarity in the definition of each form.
Seriously playful …
Strictly random, within a manic order.
Static growth …
White shadows …
Dull matt reflections …
Flat volumes …
Both man-made and natural …

Whether it’s all borderline, all there or not at all, depends on your level of attentiveness. The primary subject here is both an amplification and breaking of the very nature of the conceptions, perceptions and expectations of the materials and forms of the objects themselves. Neither my work nor I will ever scream our intentions. I’m not really attempting to tell you anything, I’m just materialising my view of the ‘nature of things’ which in turn is just giving you something to look at and hopefully bringing you in closer. Getting used to looking closely at the small things leads us to look more closely at the larger things.