2nd July 2021 - 31st July 2021
Material/Immaterial
A joint exhibition presenting new sculptures by Daniel Miles and abstract panels by Robin J Hawes.
The impulse to create aesthetic beauty is clear in the works of both sculptor Daniel Miles and artist Robin J Hawes. This shared aim, however, stands in stark contrast to the approaches and methods each uses to achieve their creative goal.
Daniel Miles’ sculptures are a product of very physical (often vigorous) shaping of tangible materials and his emotional response to the form, as it emerges and is refined, plays an integral role in the development of the sculpture’s aesthetic.
In contrast, Robin J Hawes’ series of subtle ‘op art’ panels are a product of an ongoing intellectual investigation into the hidden perceptual processes (both neurological and embodied) that are undertaken as a painting’s aesthetic emerges in the mind of the viewer.
This exhibition juxtaposes these two artists’ equally serene bodies of work within the context of the contrasting and contradictory processes undertaken to produce them.
In this way the viewer is invited to become part of a visual dialogue between the physical and the mental; the emotional and the rational; between the Material and the Immaterial.
Robin J Hawes MA, PhD, FRSA
Robin was awarded his MA in Contemporary Visual Arts at Falmouth University in 2005, and completed a doctorate in Neuroaesthetics (Art & Visual Perception) at CSAD, Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2014. Robin has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) since 2015.
Drawing on knowledge from psychology, neurology and philosophy, Robin has developed a contemporary art practice via which he can creatively explore the phenomenology of visual perception and its capacity to shape one’s inner experience, as well as our wider relationship to the object world. Inspired by his investigations into how the human brain interprets ambiguous visual information, Robin has worked in various media as a means to explore how certain structures and aesthetic forms can draw on the elements of imagination and anticipation that are integral to each viewer’s unique visual experience.
This exhibition showcases some of Robin’s Parallax series of abstract painted panels. The works are designed to cause a ‘parallax’ effect, whereby the spatial relationship between painted lines appears to alter as the visual brain struggles to place them on a two-dimensional plane, while other lines simply appear and disappear before one’s eyes. As the viewer engages with these works, they are provided with a unique opportunity to witness their own perceptual processes in action and better appreciate the ‘constructive’ nature of vision itself.
The titles of the paintings, which are hidden within each work, are taken from excerpts from classic literature that play with ideas of change or illusion such as Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis or Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through the Looking Glass.
Robin currently works from his studio near Falmouth in Cornwall, and his artworks are exhibited and sold across the UK and internationally. For more information about his art practice and to see further work please visit: www.rjhawes.net
Daniel Miles
Daniel initially studied at Lincoln College of Art and Design in the early1990s, but describes himself as self-taught with a brief apprenticeship with sculptor Reece Ingram and professional study of stone with Peter Randall-Page and Simon Thomas.
Living and working near Port Isaac in north Cornwall Daniel has always had a strong connection with wood and nature since childhood, and utilises a playful approach to his creative process. In giving himself permission to play and make mistakes as he discovers the form before him, Daniel describes those moments when he is not in control, when exposed and vulnerable, as positive opportunities to remain open to possibility: “I have to trust in feeling my way through the darkness, follow the scent of an idea to its conclusion or its many possibilities”.
His creations can be seen as incantations of the meditative mind, made in the flow of life, as opposed to artworks designed from a purely intellectual process. They appear as sensuous beings in themselves, made to be touched and lived with.
Daniel has exhibited work throughout the UK and internationally and his pieces reside in collections and public spaces such as Fulham Palace and Brockwell Park.
For more information about Daniel’s practice and to see images of work in progress please visit: www.instagram.com/danielmilessculpture
